White lies
by oathkeptroxas
Summary: Roy is the son of Oliver Queen and resident bad boy. He's combating his issues with self-destructive behavior. Jason is the son of Bruce Wayne, who is eager to put his tragic childhood behind him. Roy isn't happy about having a tutor at all. But appearances can be deceiving. An unlikely friendship may just become more. Jayroy High School AU. Pre-52 origins & characterizations.
1. Chapter 1

**This story features many adult themes and potentially triggering topics. Themes include: drug abuse, child abandonment, homelessness, suicidal ideation, self harm, past character death, child death, overdose, consensual sex between minors, addiction, emotional neglect.**

 **The majority of these themes are glossed over or referenced. Some are explored more descriptively. I don't want to give too much away, so if you have concerns about a particular theme, feel free to send me a message and I'll give you more information about how that theme appears, and you can then make a more informed decision about whether or not this is the fic for you.**

There were few things that Roy Harper had left to call his own.

The house he lived in, though large and luxurious, never really felt like a home to him.

He had reveled in it upon his arrival. He had been young and wide-eyed and in awe, completely unaware that there were truly people who lived in places so grand. For the first time in his life, he didn't want for anything, could receive anything he asked for at the drop of a hat.

Though he had never been a materialistic person by any means, like any child would, he got sucked in by the glamour of a whole new lifestyle. The house was truly a mansion, on grounds so large the whole property was an estate. The Queen Estate was spacious, but as time wore on, all of that room that he was once so enamored by just mocked him with its emptiness.

It was like having his own place with how often he found himself living alone. Roy had never had to spent much time alone before he moved, before Oliver had taken him in. He hadn't truly known how damaging loneliness could be.

As he got to the foot of the stairs, reluctantly getting ready for the day of school ahead, he spied the red flashing light of the answering machine. There was a voicemail from Ollie that he'd never bothered to listen to. It had been there for a few days now, and sometimes Roy glanced at it and thought about picking up the phone. But he'd learnt long ago that Oliver would only have a minute to spare him, if he bothered to answer at all. He'd long since stopped listening to those messages, they were all variations of the same basic sentiment.

With a deep sigh Roy shouldered his backpack, and once again wondered why Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy that he was, had even considered taking in a child. Whatever had prompted that decision was clearly no longer relevant.

Oliver obviously regretted the choice, because if he truly wanted Roy around surely he'd be home to spend time with him. Though he knew the two of them had little in common, from their vastly different ages to their totally different lifestyles and upbringings, Roy still wished that Oliver had made more effort in the very beginning, when it mattered. Maybe if that had been the case, They could've had the father-son relationship people would've expected them to. Whatever, at nearly 17, Roy was passed the point of needing him anyway.

Still, Roy went everyday wondering what he'd done to essentially drive Oliver out of his own house. Regardless of how much someone enjoyed travelling, they couldn't possibly be out of their own home for so long, could they? There had to be a reason why Oliver didn't return more frequently.

The walk to school was tiresome, as always, and he knew that he could call a car at any time, it wasn't like the fare would put a dent in Ollie's wallet. But, he found that he missed the open land and fresh air of the reservation, and liked to be outdoors as much as possible. The walk was calming.

He ran his hands haphazardly through thick auburn hair, and sparked up a cigarette for the way. He popped in his headphones, needing music to drown out the sound of passing traffic, he let Zep's 'Ramble On' and the harshness of smoke accompany him to the school grounds.

He crushed the butt of his cigarette underneath a booted foot before heading to his first class of the day. He was only a little bit late.

The day passed uneventfully, there were spitballs and doodles in margins where there should have been notes. There was high quality cafeteria food that was plentiful and delicious and made Roy ever more grateful for Oliver's fortune providing him placement at one of the greatest schools in the country. It was perfectly mundane, and Roy found himself grateful for the routine of it. At least he always knew what to expect.

It wasn't that Roy didn't enjoy school, he just simply had trouble applying himself, he had been eager to learn and jumped at the prospect that this school could get him wherever he wanted to go. But, with Oliver being gone most of the time, Roy hadn't really had anyone to kick him into gear. He started staying up late without realizing, and then on purpose. His homework lay forgot as he marathoned classic horror movies. That, coupled with the fact that he really didn't have any friends at school, meant that he didn't have anybody to collaborate on projects with or bounce ideas off of. He was always the last picked for group work or sports teams, and that all only caused his work ethic and his interest in his education to plummet.

Before he knew it his grades had slipped considerably, and the knowledge of that just sent him spiraling crept in, he felt neglected and unappreciated and lonely, and suddenly 5000 words essays just didn't seem important at all, no matter how many times the teachers told him otherwise. The school would contact Ollie, and leave a message because he wouldn't be home. The blinking light of the machine would greet Roy when he came through the door and he'd delete the message without listening to it. And the vicious cycle would continue.

When finally, blessedly the home bell sounded, Roy stuffed his things back into his bag and swung it over his shoulder. He retrieved his drumsticks and twirled them absently between his fingers as he headed for the door. He was only feet from the door, trying to repress his agitation as other students jostled him in their haste to finally be free.

"Mr. Harper!"

He halted, and with a muttered curse he glanced towards the door. So close, yet so far. But, the call of his name had cracked like a whip, and it was too late now to pretend he hadn't heard it. Begrudgingly, he turned back to see who'd addressed him. Mr Wilson stood in his office doorway, his arms crossed and his face grim. Wordlessly, he inclined his head and turned into the room, Roy sighed but followed behind him.

The next 10 minutes were tense, Mr Wilson explained that Roy's ever falling grades and continual tardiness were no longer excusable. He spoke of figures that Roy didn't care to comprehend, the lecture was nothing he hadn't heard before. But there was an underlying threat this time, something in the principal's voice that made Roy snap to attention. This time, for a change, the lecture was to be taken seriously. In short, if Roy wanted to continue his education at the establishment, he would have to agree to a tutor, simple as that.

Roy wasn't happy about the arrangement, far from it. Since moving in with Oliver at the age of 13, Roy had never really fit in with the other students. It was an expensive, high-profile school, and its students came from wealthy, high-profile families. Quite often their personalities reflected that of the typical, stuck-up rich kid. Roy really wasn't looking forward to spending time with one of them, not with the added ammunition of him needing a tutor. He ran a hand anxiously over his face. His daily routine was about to be disrupted, and Roy didn't have the patience to try and cooperate with another student.

Mr Wilson told him that the student in question was younger, only 15 to Roy's near 17. Apparently, the boy had transferred to theacademy when he was 12, and though he hadn't previously studied any of the material this school covered, he still managed to surpass his classmates. Mr Wilson said he was dedicated, smart and was already studying at the same level as those Roy's age. Roy suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Not only was he being forced to spend time with another student, but they justhadto be a brainiac who most likely would relish in belittling Roy at every really didn't want to deal with a know-it-all kid who'd look down his nose at him as they worked.

But before Roy could offer up any form of protest - not that he really had a leg to stand on - Mr Wilson stood and headed for the door, leaving Roy in the chair with his head bowed. A minute or two later the teacher returned, towing a boy with him. The boy was noticeably shorter than Roy, and comically small when stood in such close proximity to the principal. He had thick black hair, and deep blue eyes. He wasn't wearing the tell-tale smirk of snobbery. Roy watched the guy's fingers twitch around the strap of his back, almost as if he was nervous. Roy nearlygrinned to himself, maybe this wouldn't be so insufferable after all.

"Roy Harper," Mr Wilson began, but Roy didn't take his eyes off of the younger student, "meet your tutor, Jason Todd."


	2. Chapter 2

The terms were set, Roy had until the next school term to improve his grades and attitude. Jason was informed that Roy needed someone to motivate him, to help guide him through the work-loads. Roy's capability was never an issue. He could definitely complete the tasks set, he just rarely did. Roy was actually thankful that that particular piece of information was shared with his tutor, at least now the kid wouldn't think he was a total dumbass who didn't know shit from clay. But motivation was something that Roy found didn't come easy, especially when it came to academia.

But, in truth, Roy wasn't really committed to anything these days.

He liked drumming. It was escapism at the very least. To be a good drummer, you need to have rhythm, it's something you either have or you don't. Techniques can be learnt and practice earns improvement, but if you don't have rhythm you should just quit while you're ahead. Roy could drum. He was proud of it, he was skilled, he enjoyed it. No one could take it away from him. The weight of the sticks in his hands made him grounded, the vibrations as they traveled through the skins made him feel alive. Music was universal, a form of self-expression unlike any other. Roy had so much locked inside that he couldn't say, had no outlet for. He often lost himself in any number of his favourite songs. He took his frustrations out on his drum kit. It was one of the only things that ever held his attention anymore.

At some point, he'd also developed a habit for twirling the sticks when nervous or agitated, and he was twirling them furiously now. Mr Wilson had ushered them from the office rather abruptly after the initial introduction. It had been awkward and stilted but Jason and Roy had shaken hands. They were now stood opposite one another, both with their heads down; Roy's drumsticks were spinning and Jason's grip was clenching on the clasp of his bag.

Roy cleared his throat and quickly shoved his drumsticks into his back pocket, before turning to fully address the other boy. He knew this arrangement was unavoidable, but he didn't have to pretend to like it. He certainly didn't want to be standing around awkwardly waiting for one of them to figure out something to say. He opened his mouth to speak but halted abruptly when he saw the look on Jason's face. The other boy was frowning slightly, an irritated furrow adorned his brow. Roy wondered what he had to be irritated about, it wasn't like _he_ was being forced into tutoring. Finally, Jason looked up, his gaze snapping to Roy's.

"Okay, look, I know you don't want to do this. But, this is gonna look really good on my college application. So, I'm committed to seeing this through. You don't have to like me. I don't expect us to be friends. But, I guess I wanted you to know that I'm taking this seriously, if you are."

Roy wasn't expecting the other boy to say much to him at all, let alone let out the firm, little rant. He appreciated Jason's upfront and no-nonsense attitude, it was refreshing to say the least. Anything that Roy may have said died before he could give voice to it, he flashed him a smirk, almost unable to help himself. A small part of him wanted to see if he could push his luck with this kid, but he seemed earnest enough. Roy couldn't ignore the fact that there was something about Jason that got his back up a little. Perhaps it was the way that Jason so obviously had set ambitions, had his shit together. Maybe Roy felt a little inferior in the face of it.

Roy sometimes felt that he was at war with himself. If he succeeded in school then maybe Ollie would be proud of him. But also, _fuck Ollie anyway_ , why should he have to proof anything to him? And maybe if Roy really destroyed himself one day, Oliver would notice what his absence had done. Maybe it would hurt _him_.

It was a twisted logic. On some level Roy knew that he was only hurting himself in the long-run. But, Roy couldn't help but think about how happy he'd been before Oliver had taken him in, not that he wasn't grateful for all that Oliver had done, it was just that Roy didn't fit in this way of living. _It just wasn't him_. He sometimes felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb, that he was wearing some neon sign. Even though there was nothing about his outward appearance that would declare ' _outsider_ ', that didn't mean he didn't still feel like one.

And now this Jason kid was stood there talking about college and taking things seriously when he was 15 years old and born with a silver spoon in his mouth. No fucking way.

"Y'know what, kid? _Fine_. I'mma do this 'cause I don't much have a choice. But, don't expect shit from me, I don't do well with expectation, and I don't need some stuck-up brat dictating to me."

Roy knew the words were harsh even as he was saying them, but he often fell into the trap of making himself angry and lashing out with it. Jason didn't deserve his sharp tone, had done nothing to warrant the insult.

Roy clamped his teeth down on his bottom lip, unwilling to say more and too stubborn to take the words back. He saw a flicker of something in Jason's eyes, a glint of something hard as flint. The younger boy's mouth twisted into a grim frown. He looked _pissed_ , a little sad, but mostly just reserved. He regarded Roy with an unfathomable expression, his eyes still like steel. And Roy simply scoffed and made to turn away, he threw an off-hand "see you around" over his shoulder. He didn't look back.


	3. Chapter 3

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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Wordlessly, Jason dropped his bag at the foot of the stairs and hooked his jacket over the banister when they arrived at the manor, before heading into the kitchen. He retrieved a bottle of water and sat at the table, watching Alfred work as the man took a selection of vegetables to the chopping board. He sighed a little, and spun the bottle top on the tabletop before him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jason,"/p  
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Don't forget to take your things with you to your room when you head up. Please, don't leave them in the foyer," Bruce Wayne reminded, a fond smile in place./p  
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Seeming satisfied, Bruce came to sit beside his young ward, ruffling his hair as he pulled out a stool. He spoke again./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How was school?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The same question every weekday for the last 3 years, and the replies - though varied - were usually positive and enthusiastic in nature. Jason had always been eager to learn, everything and anything. He had spent quite some time in public libraries throughout his childhood, sometimes just to get out of the cold, wet streets for a few hours. It had led to him being quite an avid reader, in a number of subjects and genres. So, it surprised Bruce when Jason sighed a little, giving a simple, off-hand "It was okay, I guess."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce cocked an eyebrow, and Alfred paused in his task to glance over his shoulder at the pair. The two men shared a look, both of them growing increasingly concerned about Jason's sullen mood. Bruce shifted in his seat, suddenly uncertain as he gently nudged Jason's shoulder with his own./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Do you want to talk about it?" He asked./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason shrugged and huffed out a little sigh again. Honestly, the school day had been good, much the same as every other. He enjoyed the material he studied. He had friendly and polite conversation with his fellow classmates, though he wasn't particularly close to any of them, but that had never bothered him. It had been perfectly mundane for the most part, if anything he'd even been excited. He'd been overjoyed when Mr Wilson had approached him about the tutoring, his mind had raced with all the benefits and opportunities it could give him. He'd been a little naive to not consider how the other student might have felt about it. In any case, his initial enthusiasm had been extinguished./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was a little irritated with himself for letting the older boy's words get to him. He didn't know why he was so bothered by it, but he felt affronted by the entire exchange. It wasn't his fault the guy needed tutoring. Jason was confident that whatever the problem was, they could get it straightened out in no time. If Roy would just get over himself long enough to cooperate then this whole process could end up quick and painless. He was willing to help, he liked the work and it would definitely add points in his favour when he started applying to colleges. He didn't see the downside, until he actually met Roy Harper, at least./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason relayed the encounter to his father figure. He was a little annoyed that he'd been accused of being 'stuck-up'. He knew that Roy didn't know him from Adam, he knew that the collective mindset of the vast majority of the student body didn't take kindly to outsiders. And from Roy's words, it was reasonable to conclude that he lumped himself into the category. Jason reasoned that maybe both he and Roy had joined the academy unconventionally, but Roy wouldn't have known that by looking at him. Though Jason wanted to erase the misconception Roy had of him, to do so would open a whole can of worms that he'd really rather not. It wasn't like he owed Roy Harper anything anyway./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce listened attentively, suggested that it seemed that Roy was dealing with things himself and Jason just happened to be there. Roy had just been told he was flunking, maybe that had upset him more than he'd let on. Jason conceded to his guardian's point. He decided to just wait it out. If Roy had needed an outlet and Jason had just been the nearest available target, then there wasn't much to be done about that now, but at least in that case it wasn't personal. Jason would just continue to do what he was asked to and not concern himself with the attitude of a stranger. Feeling a lot better, he headed upstairs to complete his homework before dinner./p  
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next morning was a nightmare for Roy. He'd raided Ollie's liquor cabinet almost as soon as he'd gotten home. He didn't want to dwell on the events of the school day for a moment longer. Bizarrely, he felt truly guilty for upsetting Jason. His guilt and his shame at his failing grades, combined with his loneliness at coming home to that big empty house, all drove him straight to the drink. He hadn't gotten himself completely trashed, just drank enough to allow his sleep to be dreamless, to shut out his thoughts. When he awoke the next morning, he was dealing with a slight headache as a consequence. And to make matters worse, his lighter was out of gas, and he had been denied his morning smoke. The walk seemed to take much longer than it ever had before, he was just grateful it wasn't raining./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As he approached the school building he spotted the kid - Jason - step out of a flashy car and wave goodbye to the driver with a grin. Roy nearly scoffed, of course he'd have a chauffeur. But Roy watched in bewilderment as Jason - as soon as the car was out of sight - scrambled up the front steps, and completely ignored the main door in favour of dashing around the corner and behind the cover of the surrounding shrubbery. With a confused frown, Roy followed after him. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The odour of cigarette smoke hit him first, quickly followed by the sound of a heavy sigh. He rounded the corner to see Jason, leaning casually against the wall, his backpack at his feet and a cigarette between his lips. Roy masked his shock and recovered quickly. Maybe he would get a morning smoke after all./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey there," Roy ventured./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason spluttered and coughed around the drag he'd just taken, whirling to look at Roy with the perfect imitation of a deer in headlights. He was speechless. For the first time Roy considered that maybe there was more to Jason than Roy had first anticipated./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You got a light?" Roy smirked./p 


	4. Chapter 4

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason composed himself quickly and couldn't help but scowl at Roy's cocksure expression. In the years that he'd attended the academy he'd been trying to kick his smoking habit, and this was the first time he'd ever been caught. He didn't like relying on a stranger to keep his secret, especially one that didn't seem to like him very much. But there was nothing to be done about it now. Wordlessly, he flicked his lighter, holding out the flame for Roy to spark up. A few seconds passed in tense silence as they smoked their respective cigarettes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If Roy had seemed like the kind of student to belong to any sort of clique, Jason might've been a bit more concerned about the boy knowing his secret. A lot of the students they went to school with kept together in small clusters, they all came from wealthy families and if their parents were associates then usually the children had grown up together. They stayed close throughout school, if one of them knew something, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"they all did/span; and usually their parents did too. Jason didn't know who Roy's friends were, but by the way the other boy had spoken upon their first meeting, it was an educated guess to assume that he was not a part of one of those close-knit groups. So, it stood to reason that even if Roy had any inclination on spreading word of Jason's smoking, there'd be no one for him to tell. Very few members of the student body would ever take his word over Jason's anyway./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason knew that Bruce had many, many colleagues and associates, people who donated and attended various galas. Bruce had taught Jason the importance of keeping up appearances, stating that he didn't personally like or enjoy the company of the people he attended such events with, but it was a necessary part of the business, to make connections and establish business opportunities. Luckily, because Bruce generally kept to himself outside of such events, Jason didn't see any of those kids outside of school and the occasional charity dinner. It had been easy for Bruce to bow out of hanging around with these wealthy couples and their offspring, he had been a childless bachelor, and that in itself meant that no one expected him to hang around with full families. When Bruce had taken Jason in, everyone was understanding of his need to 'settle in', even though Bruce had never had to indicate such a thing. A lot like his guardian, Jason liked to spend as little time as possible around the cliques. They were rather overwhelming, and spent more time bragging and trash talking than actually engaging in genuine conversation. He was polite and outwardly friendly, but preferred to deal with them in small doses when possible. Jason knew that if any one of them ever caught wind of his habit, it would undoubtedly find its way back to Bruce./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason wasn't proud of his smoking. He knew it was a nasty habit, that he was far too young for. But, he'd been in a desperate situation where cigarettes were a weapon he utilized, nicotine fights both stress and appetite, and those were things that plagued Jason daily. At the time, when faced with such things, smoking just didn't seem like such a big deal. Naturally, he'd gotten addicted. He didn't want Bruce to be disappointed in him, Jason was confident that he could kick this habit alone. He'd already managed to get himself down to smoking only 2-3 a day. On some days he'd only have the one in the morning. He was getting there./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was somewhat of an enigma. Bruce hadn't recognized the boy's name when Jason had brought him up, which in itself was strange. There weren't many people that Bruce Wayne didn't know, and all the students at the academy had to have parents or guardians that could afford the tuition. Jason didn't have much information to go on, but what he knew about Roy so far was leaving him with more questions than answers, and against his better judgement, he couldn't help but be curious./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"In his peripheral, Jason could see the other boy's shoes lightly kicking at cement, the fingers of his free hand tapped a beat absently on his thigh. Roy cleared his throat and Jason looked up from watching the boy's fingers play out their tune, and met his eyes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I- uh...About yesterday..." Roy began, seeming unsure, and his some-what shaggy hair fell to obscure his gaze slightly. "I get that this wasn't your idea...you're just kinda goin' with it. But, I guess I was just kinda pissed at span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"the whole thing/span, y'know?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason furrowed his brow as he listened. He quickly stamped out his cigarette, he popped some minty-fresh gum in his mouth immediately after and fished in his bag to spray himself with deodorant to mask the odor of smoke. He appraised Roy carefully, with an eyebrow cocked as if daring him to say anything. Roy didn't comment, though he looked almost amused by the display. Jason figured that this would be the closest he'd get to an apology, but he hadn't been expecting one at all, so he couldn't complain. He could understand why Roy was pissed, no one really liked being called out, no one really enjoyed confrontation. But, at the same time, Roy had gotten himself into this mess, hadn't he?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's cool." Jason waved him off lightly. There was no point in keeping hard feelings. "I'll tell you what, I'll meet you in the cafeteria for lunch. We'll look over our schedules and find out what works best, 'kay?" He reasoned, not interested in dragging this awkward encounter out longer than necessary. Roy could think things over during his morning classes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy smirked again, looking almost grateful before giving Jason a small nod. "Sure."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They parted ways and for the first time Roy thought that maybe this whole ordeal wouldn't be so bad after all. He was almost looking forward to lunch, he could just eat and let the younger boy set up a timetable, Roy was free whenever. He had band practice on Fridays and he went out most weekends, but on school days he usually did a whole lot of nothing, it shouldn't be too difficult for the two of them to come to a consensus on when to meet./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was more than a little surprised to find the younger boy smoking. Roy might be a smoker himself, but on some level he knew that he was acting out, that the people he spent his time with weren't positive influences, and his rebellion was the one thing he had that was really span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"his/span. His smoking was simply a byproduct of that reality. It may even have been a cry-for-help type scenario, but Roy wouldn't dwell on that./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was becoming abundantly clear that Jason Todd was not some typical rich kid. Roy was more than a little intrigued./p 


	5. Chapter 5

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Lunch time came faster than Roy had anticipated. His standard school routine often dragged with how predictable it had become, but now he had new things on his mind to keep him occupied. His morning had been spent mulling over what he'd found out about his tutor thus far and he had to admit - even if only to himself - that his initial perception of Jason couldn't have been further from the truth. The intricacies of Jason's character were largely still unknown to him, but there was a mysterious air about him, a puzzle to be solved. If nothing else, trying to figure out who exactly Jason Todd was would keep him entertained far more than anything else at the school so far./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was a small part of Roy that wanted to apologize for how abrupt and ill-mannered he'd been with the other boy. But, he was far too proud to let Jason know that he regretted the way their first encounter had gone. Roy conceded that he'd had good reasons for thinking that Jason would be a certain way, and that anyone else in his position would have been equally cautious. Just because he'd been wrong, that didn't mean he had to apologize for his preconceived notions, he was sure Jason had also expected things of him, too. Certain perceptions were inevitable, and common place among the study body. An establishment as high society as the academy came with certain expectations of all those who attended./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So, lunch time found them sitting opposite each other at a small table in the far corner, papers spread before them as they came up with a plan. Jason took the lead, pawing over their respective schedules and highlighting the free time they shared. Roy just munched away on his food and nodded when appropriate, throwing in off-hand comments every now and then. Ultimately, he had very few prior obligations, and as long as whatever Jason proposed didn't conflict with his Friday or Saturday night plans, then he was willing to agree to anything./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was a slight furrow that appeared between Jason's brows as he concentrated. Roy found himself grinning despite himself, the expression looked so serious, as though the subject of their tutoring schedule was of dire importance, and demanded Jason's undivided attention. Roy pondered briefly if that was just the kind of person that Jason was, who threw himself whole-heartedly into a project. Then he wondered why he even cared enough to ponder it. Though the expression amused Roy greatly, he also found it rather endearing, which was odd. Roy generally preferred to distance himself from his school peers, and it wasn't that he considered himself above them - rather the opposite - he simply assumed that they'd see him as beneath them, and he'd rather not set himself up for that inevitable judgment and rejection. He'd perfected the art of appearing aloof. It was less complicated. If you had low expectations, you were less likely to be let down. With that in mind, Roy didn't dwell much on thoughts of any of the other students, if he could help it. So the realization that he rather liked that look on Jason's face was rather startling. To him, it showed character./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Just as Roy was having these thoughts and speculations, Jason looked up and caught him staring./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What?" He asked, almost affronted./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nothin'," Roy replied dismissively, shrugging slightly, "Your head does this crease thing when you're thinking, s'all."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay..." Jason began, confused by the admittance. "What about it?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nothin'," Roy insisted again, with another shrug, "I like it."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason raised a brow at that, and though Roy realized that it was an odd and perhaps a forward thing to say, he was unapologetic about it. He wasn't entirely sure why he liked that little furrow, but he reasoned it probably had something to do with the fact that Jason had looked so captivated, like what he was working on was important, was something he needed to get done right. Roy admired that kind of dedication, the idea that something that was perfectly mundane could be important to someone, important enough that they'd give it their undivided attention. So many people in this place had things handed to them, knew exactly where they were going to end up in life, and knew that they'd get there without struggle. Jason didn't seem like the others. He seemed genuinely interested in the work he did. Based on what Mr Wilson had said, Jason was an advanced student, intelligent and diligent. Jason himself had mentioned college applications. He seemed to have a steady head on his shoulders, and Roy found he both envied and admired that./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Whatever Jason was thinking, he didn't voice it. He handed Roy a few sheets of paper, indicating when they should meet. Times and places were circled and colour-coded, each subject having its own highlighter. Roy hadn't been expecting something quite so thorough, but the plan was simplistic and considerate of Roy's free-time. Jason had afforded him the time he'd requested without argument. Roy was grateful, and felt a pang of guilt at leaving Jason to set this up alone. They still had a few minutes left of their lunch break and they spent it exchanging friendly conversation./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So, how long have you been drumming?" Jason asked suddenly, offering a little smile that looked genuine, like he was really interested. Roy couldn't remember if anyone had ever been interested in his drumming, his band mates aside. He felt a pang in his chest./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Not long, about a year, I've always been interested, y'know? I went to this battle of the bands gig at a local club, and I don't know, guess I was inspired." Roy shrugged. "Bought myself a kit, taught myself to play, and a couple of months ago I went back to that bar, asked the guy who owned it if he knew any bands who needed a drummer." He explained, as if it wasn't a big deal, as if he wouldn't give anything to be able to drum for the rest of his life./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're self-taught? That's pretty impressive, dude. I get that it can be hard to stay focused on something that doesn't interest you, and I know school can get really boring, really fast. But, if you could just put a little of that passion you have for drumming, into getting your grades up, it won't take us long. I promise." Jason smiled again, a little broader now. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He was impressed. Roy was clearly capable of applying a great deal of determination and perseverance, and though many people might have seen Roy's musical talent as a distraction, for Jason it was just proof that Roy was someone who was willing to work for what he wanted. It was simply a matter of getting Roy to want more for himself in his educational pursuits. All Jason needed to do was motivate him. He believed that the elder boy must care about his grades, it was just getting him to admit that and apply himself that was the issue, if he could do that, everything would fall into place. Roy had this air of arrogance to him, but years on the streets had honed Jason's senses when it came to reading people. He had the sneaking suspicion that Roy wore a front, that he acted like he didn't care because he thought it was easier. But, Jason really suspected that if Roy cared as little as he claimed, then he wouldn't have spent his entire lunch break watching Jason hash out intricate timetables./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy gave a small smile, ducking his head and rubbing absently at the back of his neck, as though uncomfortable with the praise. It was as if he didn't know to respond to it. For some reason as he watched Roy fidget, he was struck with the impression that Roy wasn't used to being complimented or encouraged. The thought made him a little sad. Maybe Roy's lack of motivation really just stemmed from a deprivation of encouragement?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What about you?" Roy blurted after a few seconds of awkward silence, "You play any instruments?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason shrugged a little and shook his head slightly, "I dabbled in guitar a little bit, I learnt a few songs, it wasn't something that I ever really pursued far, I liked it, but it was always a way to pass time."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason wanted to say more, wanted to tell Roy how admirable his pursuit of drumming was, regardless of what anyone else said. He wanted to tell Roy that it took a strong person to go after what they wanted, and he shouldn't let anyone tell him otherwise. He wanted to press for information, try to confirm his suspicions. But it would be rude and invasive, and unlikely to endear him to Roy. It wasn't exactly an appropriate thing to come out with during their first real conversation. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Now that they were on equal footing, no false perceptions or defensive anger between them, they found they enjoyed each others company. It was what it was. If they were going to be working together for the perceivable future, it was nice to know that they'd be able to get along. It was unfortunate that they'd had no prior knowledge of each other. If they had been acquaintances - or at least known of each other - before being called to Mr Wilson's office, perhaps the tension wouldn't have been there at all. That thought gave Jason an idea./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason thrust his hand out, offering it to Roy in the space between them. "Let's start over," He suggested, "I'm Jason Todd, your tutor."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy smirked a little, couldn't help but find the whole ordeal a little funny. But Jason had this hopeful little grin on his face and Roy didn't have the heart to deny him. He appreciated the olive branch, regardless. He clasped his hand in Jason's and gave it a firm shake as he met Jason's eye. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hi Jay, I'm Roy." He humored the younger boy, and thought it was more than worth it when Jason let out a little chuckle before relinquishing his grip./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The nickname came as a surprise. A lot of people called him Jay of course, why wouldn't they? It was a perfectly standard contraction of his name, and he welcomed it from anyone who used it. But, it just sounded a little familiar, considering that he and Roy didn't really know one another, couldn't yet call each other friends. Though he was surprised to hear it, it was a pleasant surprise, definitely a step in the right direction./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Things were looking up./p 


	6. Chapter 6

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy woke up on Saturday to an obnoxious banging on the front door. He was wearing nothing but his lounge pants and he was certainly not in the mood to be dealing with anyone. But, with a heavy sigh he rolled himself out of his blanket cocoon, and with a long yawn and stretch, he padded down the stairs and through the foyer. The glass pane in the door was distorted, making it impossible to truly decipher who was on the other side, but the dark shape was relatively small, or so Roy thought./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy unlocked the door, and his eyes were drawn down to find Jason stood on the porch. It wasn't until then, with the patterned glass obscuring Jason's identity and leaving nothing but his height, that Roy realized just how much shorter than him the younger boy was. He was clearly awaiting a growth spurt, and at 15 Jason was sure to shoot up any day. Roy himself was still growing after all, but he'd done the vast majority of his shooting up over the previous summer, gaining at least 2 or 3 inches in height within a matter of months. But now that he was looking, compared to Roy's 5'9, Jason looked span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"tiny./span Roy would put him at around 5'2 or so at a guess./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They stood for a moment or two without speaking, with Roy confused by Jason's appearance and Jason uncomfortably fidgeting in place. Jason's gaze flickered over Roy, making the elder boy acutely aware of the fact he was shirtless, bed-rumpled and suitably perplexed. His hair was greasy and he knew he must have been sporting so obvious dark shadows under his eyes. He couldn't quite get his sleep-muffled brain to fill in the blanks for him, to comprehend why Jason would be here and if he should've known about it beforehand./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What're you doing here?" Roy asked, his voice a little husky with disuse./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Uh..." Jason began, his hand reaching up to rub nervously at the back of his neck. "We were supposed to study today?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It came out sounding like a question, as if he was unsure, which obviously wasn't the case considering that he wrote up the timetable himself. But, Roy was sure that wasn't until noon. There's no way he would have agreed to an early morning meet-up on a Saturday. Then Roy caught sight of the clock in the hall. He cursed, and in his peripheral he saw Jason stiffen./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I can go, it's no problem if you're not up to it. I would have text you when I was on my way over, but I didn't have your number." Jason explained. He felt a little bad that he'd obviously woken Roy up, but also slightly annoyed that Roy hadn't even remembered he was coming. This really wasn't giving him much confidence for the future of them working together./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy furrowed a brow. Jason hadn't done anything wrong, and Roy owed it to himself to commit to this tutoring thing. He sighed, and scrubbed a hand down his face to try and clear away the fast of sleep. Instead of sending the other boy away - though he'd be lying if he said he didn't think about it - he stepped back. He swept a hand out to gesture Jason inside./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nah, man. It's cool, it's my bad." Roy shrugged, and led Jason through to the sitting room. He grabbed his bag from the bottom of the stairs as they passed and dumped it on the coffee table. "All the stuff we need should be in there, I'll just go get dressed." Without waiting for a response, Roy heading back to his room to clean up and find some clothes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason quickly went to work, digging out the different things they'd need and arranging them appropriately. Being left alone in the large front room, Jason couldn't help but survey the area. There was a games console on the floor, the wires visible and winding up and around the large TV, there was a half-eaten packet of jaffa cakes almost wedged down the side of the sofa cushions, a hoodie was hanging from the door handle. It looked lived in, but these were all indicators of Roy being in the room. There didn't seem to be any evidence of anyone else. There were no family portraits or framed photos at all, no haphazardly placed folders or coats or anything that would indicate an adult having been through./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had asked Bruce about Roy's guardian, but Bruce hadn't known much. He'd said that he hadn't even known that Oliver had a child, said he didn't seem like the fatherly type. Bruce had said that Oliver wasn't one for dinner parties and charity galas, he was more prone to nightlife and parties and magazine tabloids. Jason wondered where Roy factored into a life like that. But, being in Oliver Queen's house now, Jason had the feeling that Roy wasn't included in much of what Oliver did at all. He thought back to his previous observations, about Roy's difficulty accepting praise. He remembered wondering if Roy got enough support at home. Pieces of the puzzle were coming together, and though Jason didn't like to jump to conclusions or make assumptions, he couldn't help but feel his assessment was right./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"By the time Roy returned, Jason had all of the paperwork once again spread out on the table top. A highlighter was gripped tightly in one hand and the cap was held between his teeth. Roy watched the younger boy's blue-green eyes flicker over the text as he read. He saw how Jason wrinkled his nose in distaste at something, inadvertently drawing attention to the light dusting of freckles along the bring of his nose, no where near as obvious and dominate as Roy's own. Roy tilted his head a little in consideration, didn't fully understand why he liked looking at Jason so much. He decided not to dwell on it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They worked companionably for a few hours. Jason was a patient tutor, and found ways to explain things so that they would apply to situations that Roy could appreciate and understand. There was an easy humor to their conversation, they laughed freely and it began to feel like they'd known each other a while, like they were truly becoming friends. They took a break for lunch and Roy made them both toasted sandwiches and large glasses of Sunny D. They sat on the floor between the coffee table and sofa, their knees brushed as their legs crossed. It was nice./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason liked Roy a whole lot more than he'd first envisioned. When Bruce had taken him in, Jason had just been so determined to put his head down and complete his studies, to make a life for himself and make Bruce proud. He hadn't really thought much about friends. There were a lot of students that he spoke to and was friendly with, but it just wasn't a priority for him at this stage in his life. Still, Jason found that being social with Roy wasn't a hardship at all, and he was beginning to think that there were more benefits to this tutoring business than brownie points with colleges./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was starting to darken outside, and Jason knew that Alfred would be getting dinner ready. It was time he headed back to the manor. Even though a part of him had been apprehensive about coming to start this study session in the first place, he found himself reluctant to leave. With a sigh, Jason gathered up his things and packed his bag. Roy looked a little dejected all of a sudden and Jason didn't know what to make of it. Deciding not to comment, Jason began clearing away the plates from their lunch, but he stopped when Roy's hand encircled his wrist./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Leave it, I've got it." Roy murmured and Jason set the plates back down./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I should probably head out, I'm sure your guardian doesn't need some kid in his house when he gets home." Jason tried for light, but when he saw the sadness that seemed to encompass Roy he realized the weight of what he'd said./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"From what Jason had discovered about Roy, he guessed that the boy spent a lot of time alone, and that it wasn't by choice. So, it seemed that Jason's foot liked to live in his mouth and he'd gone and upset Roy, which made him feel beyond awful. Jason would do almost anything to wipe that look off of Roy's face. Jason reached up his opposite hand to run the pad of his thumb over Roy's fingers, where they still held his wrist, just one comforting swipe that wasn't quite a caress. He gave the older boy a small smile before standing up, forcing Roy to break his light hold./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy stood too, and they stared at each other's shoes for a long moment. Jason once again spied the games console in his peripheral, and smiled to himself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How about you tutor me in that next time?" He suggested, gesturing to the machine. He hoped that the two of them would get opportunities to just hang out, studying aside, and that Roy would be interested in that too./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy smiled and Jason wanted to give himself a pat on the back. "Dude, I'm gonna destroy you on Tekken."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason just laughed loudly and mumbled "Can't wait."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Just as Jason was walking down the garden path to meet Alfred at the curb, he heard the door reopen behind him, and turned to see Roy running his way. Roy reached for one of Jason's hands and brought it up, scrawling his phone number and a crudely drawn smiley face on the back. "In case my lazy ass is still in bed again next time," He winked before disappearing back inside./p 


	7. Chapter 7

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Almost as soon as Jason left, Roy missed his presence. It wasn't Jason personally that he missed, at least not exactly, it was more the case that Roy hadn't just hung out all day with anyone like that for a long time. Despite the studying, it had felt like they'd just been two friends, spending their Saturday together. It hadn't felt forced or stilted at all. Roy had worried that the tutoring would feel like a burden, that Jason would view him as an obligation. But, it truly hadn't felt like that at all, and he'd actually gotten work done - and enjoyed it! It made him a little nostalgic. He hadn't had such a fulfilling Saturday since before Oliver took him in. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"For the last 4 or 5 months or so his Saturdays had followed a routine. He'd drag himself out of bed in the early afternoon, lounge about, eat some food, and go to band practice with the guys. They'd practice a little, run through the set for their next gig, and then they'd lay around listening to music. They had a little ritual of sorts, where they'd take it in turns stating a band that they felt inspired by, then they'd sit around for an hour after practice listening to said band and passing a joint between them. So, despite the fact that Roy had enjoyed his day with Jason, and was rather proud of himself for the school work he'd completed and the enthusiasm he'd approached it with, he still had the same Saturday routine to attend to. He shrugged on his jacket and headed out, sparking up a cigarette for the way./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nearly 3 hours later, he lay across the floor of the garage, the concrete floor rapidly helped to cool his sweat-slick skin. His hair was a tangled, greasy mess from all the exertion he'd put into a rather vigorous drumming session. Chucky rolled a generously sized joint before raising it to his lips. He took 2 large drags and exhaled slowly before passing it along, stoner etiquette. Everyone knew that you didn't take a single drag, there'd be way more passing than puffing if you did it that way./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"By the time it was Roy's turn the haze of smoke had made it's way through the room, the smell was cloying and pungent, and if this had been a smaller and more confined space, they'd have a hotbox on their hands in the not so distant future. They might even get to that point without trying - not that it was ever a bad thing. A small smile touched Roy's lips as he breathed in deep, the taste hit the back of his throat, the second hit felt a lot smoother. He passed it along./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy had picked the music this week, and span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Led Zeppelin/span - though an obvious choice - was always his go to. There was no other band that inspired Roy greater. And the lyrics of span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Whole Lotta Love/span provided the perfect soundtrack to finish off the evening. There were no words spoken between the exhausted but relaxed musicians. There was some humming along, feet or fingers tapping out the beat of the track, and a whole lotta smoking. And for the first time that week, Roy wasn't thinking about the big, empty house he'd have to return to, or what it meant that no one seemed to care where he was, or what he was doing./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"You've been coolin', baby, I've been droolin',/spanbr /span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"All the good times I've been misusin',/spanbr /span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Way, way down inside, I'm gonna give you my love/span/p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.234px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.12px; background-color: #ffffff;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason's evening progressed like most others, he ate dinner with Alfred and Bruce, and they both asked him for details of his day. He'd had a really great day. He loved Bruce and Alfred of course, but there was just something different about spending time with someone closer to his own age, someone who he genuinely seemed to get along with despite their initial misgivings about one another. Jason had already started considering Roy his friend, even if only within the privacy of his own mind. He babbled excitedly to Bruce about how this tutoring thing was so much fun. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce had always been a keen observer, and it certainly didn't escape his notice that his young ward spoke very highly of the other boy, regardless of the fact they really didn't know one another very well. It was surprising, especially considering how skittish Jason had been when he'd first been taken in. Jason had grown up with the belief that everyone was a potential threat, and it usually took him a considerable amount of time to truly warm up to someone. But Bruce was happy to see Jason so optimistic, nevertheless. However, it did concern the billionaire slightly that he'd had no knowledge of Roy Harper before Jason had brought him up. Surely, he would've been informed if another socialite had taken in a child around Jason's age. It had been all anyone talked about when Jason had come to live with him, and surely his peers would've thought it beneficial for Bruce to know if there was another child in a similar situation. Perhaps Jason and Roy would've been able to meet sooner if he'd known./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Oliver Queen certainly wasn't the fatherly type. Bruce briefly considered what that meant for the young boy in Ollie's care, but he trusted that if Jason had any serious concerns, he'd have told him. So, Bruce decided to leave it for the time being. He just smiled fondly as Jason relayed the events of his day./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As Jason was heading up to his room, he glanced down at the slightly smudged digits on the back of his hand, he smiled briefly. Without too much deliberation he retrieved his phone and quickly pecked out a simple text./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"[[text:Jason]]:/strong span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Hey it's jason :) i had a great time today/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason didn't receive a reply until the following afternoon. He didn't think too much of it, after waking Roy up at noon once already, he figured Roy had been sleeping all morning. The text said a simple span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'you too :)'/span, but it appeased Jason. It was more than he'd been expecting. The message made him smile widely, and he found himself looking forward to school the next morning. He enjoyed school anyway of course, but there was something extra exciting about knowing that he'd be able to see Roy again. Jason just put it down to the great time he'd had with the other boy, and the possibility of having a real friend in the near future, if they continued to get on the way they had been./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was definitely a concept worth getting excited about./p 


	8. Chapter 8

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the next few weeks carried on, Jason and Roy developed a legitimate friendship. Roy was up to date with all his assignments for the first time in too long to remember. With less focus being put on the studying, now that Roy had shown considerable improvement, the boys spent more time just hanging out as friends. They both thrived socially now that they were spending time with someone else their own age. Roy found that Jason was quick-witted, with a dry sense of humour and a sharp tongue. He'd schooled the younger boy in many of the video games he had in his collection, and though Jason had little experience, he was fiercely competitive and Roy had to employ all of his skill to stay on top./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If Roy were being painfully honest, he'd laughed more in Jason's company than he had since before Brave Bow passed away, and though Roy was usually careful to watch his words, so that nothing too personal was revealed, he found with Jason he didn't feel that need quite as often. If he let something slip in front of Jay, he was able to get a little nostalgic and look back on his childhood with minimal pain. It was liberating. Jason didn't seem to want or expect anything from him. It was easy as breathing to be in each other's company./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But of course Roy never completely opened up about his feelings. He never let Jason know just how much he wished he could go back. Roy didn't even let himself dwell on it, it was too painful. He didn't think he would ever be comfortable enough with anyone to share some of his darker thoughts, so of his most damaging memories. But, with Jason, there were moments when Roy wanted to. He often felt that if he had to bare his soul to anyone, he'd want it to be Jay. Roy felt the searing pain of inadequacy every morning when he woke up to an empty house and a flashing light of another voicemail. But he couldn't talk about that. He didn't want or need his friend's pity. Jason was rather tight-lipped about himself, and Roy didn't pry, he knew there were some things that just had to be kept buried. But Jason had told him that he'd had to live on the streets, that Bruce Wayne had taken him in when he had no where to go, given him a roof over his head when he felt like he didn't deserve one./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy understood that feeling to an extent, though he could never contemplate the horrors Jason must have been witness to, maybe even victim of. Regardless, Oliver had taken him in and then acted like he regretted it. He was never around, and in the years that he'd lived in Oliver's house, Ollie had only been present for one birthday. Roy couldn't help but feel he was somehow at fault for Oliver's absence, was he driving Ollie out of his own home? He began to wonder if maybe he didn't deserve to be there at all. On his worst days, Roy wished he'd died with Brave Bow./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sometimes Roy felt like Jason could see right through him, whenever they were talking and things got a little close to the mark, Jay would give him this look, that was a little sad and understanding but mostly fond, as if to say span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'you don't have to talk about this now'/span. Roy decided that his life was infinitely better when Jason was around. It wasn't even a startling revelation./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was a dreary day, the rain was merciless and it pelted against the windows in powerful sheets. Jason and Roy finished up their lunches fairly quickly. Jason's leg was bouncing under the table, his hands were clasped tight in his lap and Roy knew he was stressed. He had a test coming up in his last class of the day and he was nervous. Jason was a dedicated and intelligent kid, no doubt about that. But, his education meant a lot to him, he was banking on it to carve a bright future for himself, he always got jittery before any kind of academic test or exam. Roy'd be lying if he said he didn't find it a little cute./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy placed a hand atop of Jay's knee to stop it jumping. The younger boy glanced up at him, his thick, dark hair fell into his eyes a little and he was visibly agitated. Roy sent him a little smirk that clearly said span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'dude, chill'/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fuck. I need a smoke." Jason blurted. And with as pent-up as he was, it wasn't a surprise./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy inclined his head to the door, "Let's go then."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason shook his head immediately, black curls flying with the jarring movement, "Can't. It's storming out there. And we've got just over an hour before school let's out. I'd never dry in time, and there's no way I can explain that away to Bruce. He'd get suspicious."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy pondered that for a long moment, before an idea struck him. Wordlessly he shrugged out of his own over-sized, denim jacket, it was thick and high-quality, and layered with a thick hood. It would definitely stop any clothes underneath from getting damp. And with how much shorter than him Jason was, the jacket - a little large on Roy himself - would swamp him, come to his knees. Jason's trousers were thin and black, they'd likely dry in time, and even if they didn't, you wouldn't tell they were wet by looking at them./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason raised a brow at Roy and appraised the offered garment, Roy simply pressed it to the younger boy's chest./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Just put it on. It'll keep you dry. Oliver's not even gonna be there when I get home. So who gives a shit if I get wet. C'mon."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Without waiting for a response Roy got up and headed for the exit. Jason slipped the jacket on and zipped it all the way to the top, following after Roy. He flipped up the hood as they walked out of the door. They joked and chatted as they smoked, Roy teased Jason for how the jacket seemed to dwarf him, but he had to admit he rather liked the sight of it. Jason kinda wanted to keep the jacket, not that he'd ever let Roy know that, but it was warm and comfortable and the extra room was appealing, and he imagined curling up to sleep in it. And when the bell for the final period rang and they stubbed out their respective cigarettes, Jason stepped out of the jacket mournfully, and handed it back to Roy with a smile of thanks./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They said goodbye softly, barely heard over the torrential downpour, and headed in opposite directions./p 


	9. Chapter 9

div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1088.63px; float: none; word-wrap: break-word; color: #2a2a2a;"  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"After weeks of spending a substantial amount of one-on-one time with the younger boy, Roy had to admit to himself that he was rather enamoured. The truth of it was that if they'd met under any other circumstances, their first encounter - which had gone anything but smoothly - would most likely have been their last. But they had been forced together, and looking back on it, Roy felt rather grateful./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"There was something to be said about a friendship born from adversity. They'd overcome initial hurdles, and reassessed their views of each other. The reality was that Roy had never intended to like Jason. He hadn't wanted to like him. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"It just happened./span There had never been any getting around it. Knowing the situation involved with their meeting made Roy's feelings a lot more genuine, in his opinion. The connection they'd established felt a little inevitable./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Not to mention that Roy's grades were improving. Jason really was a good tutor, he gave his all to anything he was committed to. Jason was always so encouraging of the things that Roy did, wanted him to succeed. It had been a long time since Roy had felt that. Even though he was ever grateful for Jason's presence in his life, it was still slightly disheartening to know that his main support came from his young tutor, and not his legal guardian./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Oliver was home on this particular weekend. Roy had arrived from school on Thursday afternoon to find him laughing boisterously in the kitchen with 'uncle hal', though Ollie was the only one who actually bestowed him with that title out loud. As Oliver's best friend, Hal Jordan knew him better than pretty much anyone. Hal had no illusions about the kind of man that Oliver Queen was - not ever malicious but more often than not entirely clueless. Roy liked Hal. He knew that the pilot had tried on multiple occasions to talk to Ollie about his responsibilities, to no avail. It really was saying something that even Hal had dropped hints. Hal was the very definition of the 'fun uncle', he had no responsibilities of his own whatsoever, and happily so. The fact that someone like Hal would intervene was especially telling, and a true testament to how incredibly dense Oliver could be. Ultimately, regardless of his intentions and opinions, Hal's hands were tied, there was only so much he could do. But every time Roy came face to face with Uncle Hal, he'd get a soft - almost sad - smile and a 'how ya doin', kid?'./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy had told Oliver about the tutoring - not the extent or cause of his slipped grades, of course - but that there were things he struggled with, and Bruce Wayne's ward was helping him out. Ollie scoffed at the mention of the other billionaire, explaining that they knew more span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"of/span one another than they actually knew each other. Apparently Oliver couldn't understand how someone with Mr Wayne's funds and resources was so opposed to the idea of fun. Roy didn't know Jason's guardian, they had yet to meet. But Roy still felt the odd urge to defend, to tell Oliver that people had different ideas of exactly what 'fun' was. Bruce had done so much for Jason, and seemed like a good-hearted, kind man. Besides, if Ollie knew how Roy spent his down-time, there'd be Hell to pay. Roy sometimes felt that he was acting the way he did to spite Oliver, and maybe there was a little truth in that, but ultimately Roy was someone who spent a lot of time alone. Without strict and consistent guidance, kids like him fell prey to peer pressure and wrong crowds. Sometimes Roy was so filled with conflicting emotions that the need to expel that feeling of being overwhelmed was impossible to resist./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Band practice on the Friday night was brutal, Roy took his frustrations out on his drum kit, sweat pouring from him as he drove himself harder, his rhythm unfaltering. Afterwards he stripped his shirt off and lay against the concrete floor, his slick skin creating a spread-eagle imprint beneath him. Battle of the bands was a week away, and the boys were amped up, working themselves hard. They needed to be ready. It was with that in mind that Chucky spoke up, he passed the joint to Roy before sharing his news./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I was chattin' to one of the sound guys at the bar, right? I had to go check things out for the gig, discuss the equipment set-up. He's a good dude, knows his shit, y'know?" Chucky was animated, clearly had his mind set on whatever he was about to share. Roy let out a huff, finishing his drag before passing the stuff on./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Said he could hook us up with some really good shit," Chucky continued, "good quality Blow. It keeps you up, up, up. All the confidence you need, instantly. And it'll keep us wired for the after party. Whether we win or not the night's gonna be a messy one, and we ain't missing a second of it."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The guys murmured enthusiastically, and Roy had to admit that it sounded good. This was their first competitive gig, and Roy had to admit it was nerve-wracking. He could do with an edge. He knew their set backwards, he could drum it in his sleep. As long as he had rhythm he could get it done, and every drummer has rhythm. He couldn't afford to let stage-fright become a hurdle. From what he knew of cocaine it was a stimulant like few others, instant gratification in the form of utter euphoria, king of the world kind of good. Roy could use that feeling. With a bump of his fist to Chucky's, it was a done deal. Bring it on. The other bands wouldn't know what hit them. Great Frog were gonna take the world by storm./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Joey - their bassist - dove to his backpack, his sudden movement jarring and unexpected amidst the happily stoned musicians. He flung a crumpled piece of paper in the center of their circle, a dopey grin on his face as he took back his seat. Roy rolled over to grab at it, flattening it out to find an illustration, a large green frog stared up at him, its eyes hypnotic swirls of yellow and blue, a crown atop its head. It was good./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""My sister's friend's an art student at the local college. Paid her a couple of dollars to sketch something up for us. Figured maybe we could make flyers," Joey explained, bouncing slightly in place, "Hey, maybe we could get jackets?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy rolled his eyes, but folded the paper and stowed it in his back pocket. He'd scan it in when he got home, add the date, time and venue, proudly declare Great Frog. It was gonna be epic./p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.234px;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Monday morning found Oliver in the foyer, a duffle bag in one hand, ready for another world-round trip. He ruffled Roy's hair and gave him a smile that was a little too affectionate, considering he only seemed to care selectively. Roy wasn't surprised of course, but still felt angry at himself for the sting that resonated in his chest. He had been expecting this. It shouldn't still hurt./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Stay out of trouble, kiddo! I'll bring you a souvenir." He called as he headed out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy thought briefly of the collection of magnets he'd once proudly lined up and added to as Oliver brought them home, that were now in a box under his bed. He sighed and shouldered his bag, and headed to school./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He spent his free period that morning digitizing and printing a vast amount of posters, choosing the computer right next to the library printer so he could put them straight in his bag and out of sight. This was obviously a misuse of school resources if nothing else. He spent the remaining 10 minutes of his free stuffing the flyers in lockers at random, pinning them to any available notice board and flinging them haphazardly down stairwells./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The bell sounded and the student body spilled into the halls. A minute or two later, Roy felt a tap on his shoulder and he spun to find Jason. The younger boy stood clutching one of the many flyers, his forehead held that little furrow again, and he looked at Roy as though hurt. Roy decided that he never wanted to see that expression on Jason again. Before Roy could express his concern, the younger boy spoke./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Why...why didn't you tell me?" He inquired, his voice soft and almost wounded./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy was overcome with confusion. He didn't think that Jason would care about some gig at a skeezy dive bar. He hadn't mentioned it because he didn't want to deal with Jason telling him no, he couldn't make it. Roy reached a hand out toward the flyer that Jason still had in his grip./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Jay..." He breathed, trying to think of what to say, to try and decipher Jason's tone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Mr Harper!" Mr Wilson's voice cracked like a whip through the hallway./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Oh, fuck," Roy groaned as the teacher snagged him by the back of his collar./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.234px;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jason worried that he'd somehow done something to upset his friend. He'd felt as if Roy had been pulling away slightly, they still spent a lot of time together, that hadn't changed, but Roy was distant, less animated in their conversations, more distracted than Jason had ever seen him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The younger boy didn't really know what to do about it. Looking back, he couldn't pinpoint a singular event that would cause such a rift. The changes were so subtle, that if Jason hadn't been able to read people as well as he could, he wouldn't have noticed at all. Growing up on the streets had required Jason to have an intimate knowledge of how to interpret body language and expressions, to determine what wasn't being said, and how that fared against what was. He was saddened that Roy was slowly breaking away, at least that was how it seemed. But the changes were so outwardly minute that he reasoned that perhaps Roy wasn't even aware that he was doing it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jason wanted badly to ask Roy about it, he was concerned for his friend. He hated the thought that the friendship they'd established could be at risk. He didn't know how to bring it up. He wondered if maybe he was simply getting too attached to the older boy, he liked Roy immensely, wanted to monopolize his time. He wasn't sure he wanted Roy to know the extent of his growing feelings, in case they weren't reciprocated./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"It was disheartening to step out of class and nearly slip on a colourful flyer, only to discover that Roy hadn't found it necessary to even tell him a Battle of the Bands was happening. The sudden hot sting of hurt blossomed through his chest, overtaking his surge of pride at his friend's upcoming participation. He would love to see Roy perform. Did Roy not want him there?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Catching sight of the other boy at the end of the hall, his auburn, shaggy hair recognizable even from a distance, Jason headed over. With the poster still clenched tight in his grip, he tapped Roy's shoulder to get his attention. But before he could demand any answers, he spotted Mr Wilson headed in their direction, his gaze burning a hole in Roy's back. His voice came quickly after, full of authority and an undertone of fury./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy's eyes widened as he let out a curse. His gaze locked with Jason's as he felt Mr Wilson's grip tighten on his shirt. The teacher reached over Roy's shoulder to snatch the poster from Jason's grasp. He scrunched it in a clenched fist before Roy's face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Your guardian does not pay our tuition for you to mistreat our facilities, for your own gain," He thundered, steering Roy around to face him, "Detention. Now."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy briefly met Jason's eyes as he was herded away. With a glance back over his shoulder, he really wished he could've wiped that pained look from the younger boy's face. He sighed. He should've known he'd get caught./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy sat in detention, spinning his drum sticks and counting the seconds. His stomach was growling, but he knew the school had to let them out 10 minutes before the end of their lunch break, just enough time to get some food. When he was finally released, he was greeted to the sight of Jason sat on the floor on the opposite side of the hallway, a half-eaten sandwich was held in one hand as he furiously scribbled notes with the other. He looked up as Roy approached, a tentative smile playing on his lips./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Hey," the younger boy breathed, before tossing Roy a fresh pack of sandwiches, "Figured you'd be hungry," he shrugged./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy glanced down at the offered food. Surprised by the other's thoughtful gesture, he said "You bought me food?...and waited outside detention for me?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Roy, honestly," he huffed, "You're my friend," he waved a hand almost dismissively, "besides, I wanted to talk to you."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy scratched the back of his head a little nervously, he sat cross-legged next to Jason on the linoleum. He began tearing open his lunch for an excuse not to meet Jason's gaze./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jason sighed a little, the cavern of his chest aching still with the knowledge that he'd been kept in the dark. He softly bumped their shoulders together before dropping one of the posters in Roy's lap. He ducked his head to meet the older boy's eye./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Why didn't you tell me?...Didn't you want me there?" Jason asked carefully, trying to downplay his own feelings in the hope of receiving an honest response./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What?" Roy replied immediately, a little taken aback that Jason had even considered that possibility, "You'd...You'd actually come?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jason scoffed but gave the older boy a more pronounced grin, "Of course, I would. You're my friend. Friends support each other," it was so simple in his mind, he would always be there to encourage Roy's pursuits, "Unless, you wanted to keep your band friends and your school friend separate. I'd... I'd understand if that's what you want. But, if you want me there, I will be."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Roy looked at Jason for a few long moments in silent bewilderment, and he wondered - not for the first time - what he'd ever done to deserve this boy. Having Jason there to see him perform sent a thrill through Roy. A fire of determination lit him up inside, and he knew that he was going to play his heart out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He smirked a little, but his eyes shone soft and grateful. He knocked his shoulder into Jason's, turned his head to bump his nose against the younger boy's temple, "You gonna be my roadie?" He quipped./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jason spluttered and shoved at him with a laugh, "As if!"/p  
/div 


	10. Chapter 10

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The night of Battle of the Bands approached rapidly. And Roy experienced great remorse for having not invited Jason to watch him play, and was appreciative of his friends support. However, though Roy was excited that the younger boy would be attending the show. It felt good to know that someone in the crowd was there just for him, because they cared about him. He didn't think Jason knew how much that meant./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was nervous about the night. He'd lied to Bruce about where he was going, claiming he and Roy were going to study and then watch movies. He'd never lied to his guardian before, and the thought of it left a sick feeling in the back of his throat, an unpleasant slosh in the pit of his stomach. But just the possibility of Bruce forbidding him from going was enough to cause the lie to spew forth. He couldn't miss this. He span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"needed/span to be there for Roy. He was a little anxious about meeting Roy's bandmates, his friend didn't talk about them much. It was a little odd, considering how much time he seemed to spend with them. The thought caused Jason to wonder if Roy had ever mentioned span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"him/span to span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"them/span. He didn't know whether he'd prefer for him to or not. The idea of the boys having no prior conceptions of him was appealing, but the thought that Roy hadn't felt him important enough to mention was more than a little upsetting./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alfred dropped him off at the Queen mansion, Jason was going to be travelling to the bar with the band, to help with his lie. The second Roy opened the door, his eyes swept over Jason, a smirk playing on his face. The younger boy glanced down at his attire, his outfit comprised of a pair of all black converse, his comfiest jeans, and a casual - though good quality - shirt. Jason knew better than to draw attention to himself or flaunt his wealth in a dive bar on the side of town they were headed to. That was asking for trouble. The dilemma was that since moving in with Bruce all of his belongings were high in quality, and noticeably nice - though not flamboyant by any means, he would still be noticeably tidier than anyone they were likely to meet at the gig./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Put this on," Roy said suddenly, flinging a black garment absently over his shoulder as he rounded the corner into the living room./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason scrabbled with the shirt, shaking it out and holding it up in front of him, smiling to himself when he saw the familiar frog illustration embossed on the front. Rapidly, while Roy was still in the other room, he stripped out of his shirt, tugged the band t-shirt over his head, before throwing his own shirt back on, leaving it unbuttoned to proudly display the Great Frog design. Irrationally, he felt proud and elated that Roy wanted him to wear it, as if it wasn't about support of the band, but more about a blatant and public declaration of his affiliation with the drummer. It was a ridiculous notion, but it filled Jason with a dopey sort of happiness to think about./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey," Roy called out as he stuck his head around the door frame, his mouth widening to a toothy smile when he saw Jason donning the shirt, he stepped forward and grasped the hem softly, tugging Jay a little closer as he grinned down at him, "It looks good on you," he breathed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason could feel his face heating, and his nerves returned tenfold, a fluttering sensation attacked his insides and he fumbled over what to say. But Roy took a step back, breaking the moment before it could really start. The older boy scratched anxiously at the back of his head, a tell-tale tick of his that Jason was fondly familiar with./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Listen.. If the guys are dicks, just...just don't take anything personally, 'kay?" Roy imparted hesitantly. Jason frowned, really not liking where this was going. "It's just...I've never introduced anyone to them before...and I joined the band late...they all knew each other long before I came along...they're not..they're not always the nicest guys, in a general sense. They're cool to me obviously, we get along great. But they're not exactly polite, or overly friendly at first...I just don't want you to be upset," he elaborated, dropping his gaze to the floor./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was stuck on the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'I've never introduced anyone to them before'/span, that had to mean something. Didn't it? Without further thought, Jason reached a hand forward to tilt Roy's head up, his fingers curving around the other boy's chin. "Don't worry 'bout me. Tonight's about you, right?" He said softly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy smiled at his friend, unconsciously leaning in to the comforting touch. Jason smirked a little, "Besides, I can hold my own, and I don't really care if they like me or not," which wasn't strictly true, it would be nice if he could be civil with Roy's bandmates, if only to make things easier on the older boy./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy stepped away, and shrugged into his jacket. "span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I/span like you," he murmured, before fishing in his pocket for his cigarette box./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That's all I need," Jason quipped back, disguising the truth in those words with his teasing tone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled slightly, before placing an unlit cigarette between his lips and quickly checking his phone. He read the screen intently for a moment before heading for the door./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We gotta head out. I always meet the guys a few blocks away," Roy informed him, as he opened the door and stepped outside. "I don't want them to know where I live, I don't want them to look at me different, y'know? And if they knew I had this huge empty house all the time, I'd never be rid of them."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason contemplated that, and he understood the logic of it, thought it was rather sensible. It also made him happy to know that he seemed to know Roy better than the people he spent the most time with. They only saw a version of Roy that he'd spun for them, a persona he'd concocted to live in their world. That was a practice that Jason knew intimately. Wordlessly, he followed the older boy outside./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The walk took them nearly fifteen minutes, and they spent the journey smoking and exchanging idle chit-chat. It wasn't long before the guys pulled up, Chuck was behind the wheel of the old van, smirking at them through the window. Without greeting the singer, Roy reached for the sliding door. He inclined his head towards Jason, signaling for him to get in first./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The drive to the bar was filled with boisterous laughter, the guys ribbing Roy for bringing his 'tutor' to a gig. Roy slung his arm across Jason's shoulders and laughed good-naturedly, before telling his bandmates to 'leave off, he's cool'. Jason kinda wanted Roy to never move his arm./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The bar was slowly filling up as Chuck parked around the back, the boys hauled their gear backstage while Jason stood unobtrusively to the side. Jason was surprised to discover that he didn't need to pay the door fee, because Roy had taken the time to inform the doormen 'he's with me'./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy had bought himself a beer and Jason a lemonade as the first band got ready for their set. Looking around, Jason was surprised that despite the dingy decor and the bad part of town, people were more or less just keeping to themselves. Roy leaned in so that Jason could hear him over the noise of the gathered crowd, "You gonna be okay while I play?" He asked. Jason found it a little sweet that Roy had been looking out for him, even though it really wasn't necessary. He nodded with a grin./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You nervous?" He couldn't help but ask./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A little," Roy allowed, he glanced around the bar, surveying who he'd be playing to./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yo, Harper!" Chuck called before Jason could offer any words of encouragement. Most of the crowd turned to seek out the cause of the uproar. Both Jason and Roy looked up to see the singer waving frantically to get Roy's attention./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy glanced down at Jason abruptly, his hand coming up to grip Jason's bicep lightly, the heat of his hand seeped through the younger boy's shirt. "I'll go see what his problem is. Stay here?" Jason nodded./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy followed Chuck into a bathroom stall, flicking the latch behind him. Chuck had already pulled out his pocket mirror, he balanced it on his thigh as he sat on the toilet lid. He emptied the baggie of powder onto the reflective surface. Wordlessly, Roy handed him his student library card, Chuck smiled in thanks and used the card to form lines./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Like fuck am I snorting anything off of a toilet, that's dirty as shit," the boy commented offhandedly. That's one thing that Roy could say about Chuck, his drugs were good quality, and he took them as safely as possible. "What's up with short-stack? He not feelin' up to joining us?" The frontman quipped, in clear reference to Jason./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy felt the sudden urge to punch Chuck in the face, and despite their many faults, he'd never felt the need to get violent with any of his bandmates. Roy glowered dangerously, and Chuck raised an eyebrow. "You leave him the fuck out of this, Chucky. You don't even tell him about this stuff, alright?" Roy seethed, " ...and don't call him that."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The other boy just chuckled, "Alright, man, chill. Didn't know you were all mushy over the kid."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Before Roy could think up a retort, Chuck pulled a tobacco paper out of his pocket and rolled it up. "The only assholes who snort through dollar bills are in the movies, or are too desperate for a fix to care how fucking dirty money is. Who knows who had that note before you did?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was leaning against the door, his arms folded as he watched Chuck snort his lines. Without missing a beat the singer created two more lines, and Roy knelt down beside him to get his own fix. "Remember, a nostril per line, and don't forget to snort some water on the way out, no one wants this shit drying out their nose." Roy nodded./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Roy found Jason again, no more than 10 minutes had passed. Roy smiled, his mouth wide with excitement. He blinked rapidly against the brightness of the stage lights and beamed down at Jason. "I'm really glad you're here," he admitted./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason smiled back at his friend, "Wouldn't miss it," he breathed. He catalogued Roy's restless excitement, "What was that about anyway? Band pep talk?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy gave a little shrug, his grin still in place. "You could say that."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had the nagging sense that there was something he was missing. Roy seemed to be boundless in energy, like whatever Chucky had said to the boys had made them ready, hungry for the competition. But, at the same time, Jason had to concede that this was Great Frog's first competitive gig, and drumming was Roy's life, his enthusiasm was understandable. Adrenaline was a funny thing, he supposed. He watched as Roy's eyes darted around the room, he shifted in place slightly, his hand absently brushed at his opposite forearm as if ridding it of something. Jason frowned./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The first band of the night took the stage, and Roy drained his second beer, it might even have been his third. "I gotta head backstage, we're up after this set is finished," he explained./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Knock 'em dead," Jason encouraged with a grin./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cheer for me," Roy told him before pressing a somewhat sloppy and completely unexpected kiss to the younger boy's temple./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was gone before Jason could form any kind of response, but the dopey little smile on his face said more than he ever could./p 


	11. Chapter 11

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There were 8 bands in total that would be taking the stage, each performing a set of about 15-20 minutes. Great Frog coming up second was unfortunate in a sense, they'd have to deliver a knock-out performance in order to be remembered, and as the bar patrons got progressively more intoxicated throughout the night, inevitably their judgement would become more and more skewed. However, when the time came for the boys to take the stage, Roy reached the peak of his high, and he was riding the buzz. Every collision of his sticks to the skins felt like the world's greatest achievement. Who even gave a fuck about those other bands anyway?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason watched from the side of the stage as Roy lost himself in the music, the percussion crashing and sounding in faultless rhythm. Chucky's voice was husky with a distinctive, unusual edge, an inflection coated the lyrics that was never present when he was simply speaking. The boys were animated, like they owned the stage; they flowed from one song to another, calling out to excite and engage the crowd. Jason gazed, transfixed at the way the sweat on Roy's skin seemed to shine with the flashing colours of the various stage lights. His eyes were shut, his auburn lashes fanned out against freckled cheeks, there was a furrow of concentration between his brows, his teeth were clamped down on his lower lip, and Jason marveled at how someone could look so at peace and at war all at once. Roy was made for this./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason caught sight of a group of girls a few feet from him, they murmured and giggled amongst themselves, and shot appreciative looks at the musicians. Jason felt his fists clench as one of them stared unabashedly at Roy, and spent the rest of the song in stunned silence at his overreaction. Roy was his friend, he was talented and attractive and in his element, it made sense that other people would see that, too. The set ended with the resounding note of that song. Roy took a long pull of his beer bottle, his neck was stretched out long, the sweat-slick skin of it exposed, his hair was damp around his nape, the girls giggled again. As the applause rang out, Chucky gave a few over-dramatic bows in quick succession, he laughed boisterously before saluting the crowd. The girls huddled around the steps as the boys descended from the stage, one of them quickly latched onto Chucky's elbow. And Jason inhaled sharply, and watched in abstract horror as Roy winked at one of them, backing her against the sound box to press a filthy kiss to her mouth./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The boys hauled the gear back out to the van, the girls trailing behind them. The peppy blonde that Roy had kissed tapped his shoulder, she herded him around the corner, and without a word exchanged between them, the harsh, damp gravel of the alley was biting into the skin of her knees. Roy's head fell back against the brick, and he panted a profanity into the night air./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Roy returned not long after, the boys were having a smoke, sat on the floor of the van with the sliding door open. They smirked as he approached. "span style="font-style: oblique;"Fuck/span, why did I let that happen?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Chucky laughed, "It's the blow, man...no pun intended," he waggled his eyebrows and Roy rolled his eyes, "shit makes you cocky...and kinda horny."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""span style="font-style: oblique;"Great./span" Roy breathed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Speaking of, you're gonna be coming down any second. You want another line?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy shook his head, already feeling guilty for leaving Jason alone most of the night. "I gotta find Jay."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That reminds me," Chucky started suddenly, he turned to the other guys, "Don't mention the drug stuff to Roy's boytoy. He nearly bit my head off earlier for even suggesting it. And we do not want a falling out with our drummer. Not after we just tore the roof off this place."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The boys smirked at each other, but nodded in agreement. Joey and Chuck fist bumped. The bassist turned to Roy after a moment, "No offense, but why do you think you owe him anything, anyway? It's not like you're dating the guy."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy contemplated that for a second. He knew it was true, but still, he wanted to be someone that Jason could be proud of. "Look, I like him, alright? And if he could span style="font-style: oblique;"not/span find out that I'm a gigantic fuck-up, that would be great."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Joey just scoffed, and took a long drag of his cigarette. "We're all fucked up Roy-boy. Some people are just better at hiding it."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy found Jason sat at a booth at the back, swirling the dregs of his lemonade in the bottom of his glass. "Hey," he ventured, before he took a seat beside the younger boy./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason gave him a smile that seemed a little strained. His chest still felt pinched tight from having witnessed Roy kiss someone else, perhaps it was naive of him to think that the kiss to his temple meant anything. Roy had drained quite a few beers, for all Jason knew, the older boy could just be an affectionate drunk. He disguised his hurt as best as he could. "You guys were incredible," he told the older boy softly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thanks," Roy breathed, he relaxed back into his seat a little. Roy was filled with the nearly overwhelming sensation that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, like every positive thing had been ripped away all at once. He'd known in theory that a cocaine comedown was anything but a fun time, but the force and suddenness of it was staggering, and having to hide it from Jason made him feel even lower than the drug crash already had. Dirt had nothing on Roy Harper./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason watched Roy carefully, his shoulders slumped, his entire demeanour screaming 'crestfallen', he worried that something might have happened. This wasn't the place for personal conversations, and he made the assumption that it wasn't something Roy wanted to talk about. "So, uh...that's your type, huh?" He attempted to change the subject, he inclined his head towards the blonde girl from earlier, who was now making doe-eyes at the current band's vocalist. Perhaps that was what had Roy so down all of a sudden, the possibility of that made Jason span style="font-style: oblique;"ache/span./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy looked up in surprise for a second, his eyes barely flitted to the girl in question before he was meeting Jason's gaze. "What? No. I uh, that was just heat of the moment, I guess...I don't really think I have a span style="font-style: oblique;"type/span. What about you?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason stared at Roy for a long moment, before he drained the remainder of his lemonade. "Never really thought about it."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy's bandmates rejoined them in the next second. And immediately Roy knew they'd been snorting. Luckily, Jason didn't know any of them well enough to notice the differences in their behaviour and general demeanour. As the rest of the bands played their sets, the crowd was getting restless, more alcohol flowing as the night went on. Chucky was making loud and obnoxious digs at other band's performances, and though Roy knew his arrogance was a tell-tale symptom of his high, it was still bad showmanship. He could tell that Jason really wasn't impressed with Great Frog's lead vocalist. Roy had switched to soft drinks, and hadn't bought himself a single beer since their set finished, but his bandmates hadn't felt the need. Roy had heard that the influence of another substance could help lessen the blow of a comedown, but his friends were taking that to another level, they were shit-faced drunk by the time the results were even announced./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Great Frog ranked in third place Chucky jumped to his feet, the jarring movement sent multiple beer bottles toppling, fortunately most of them were already empty. Roy could see the rant coming, Chucky's refusal to accept the result for what it was, was building up. Roy had to cut it off. He yanked at Chucky's arm, levelled him with a stern gaze before their group headed out the back entrance. They didn't even stay to hear which of the remaining two bands had snagged the win./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the boys headed towards the van, Chucky pulled out his keys. "Like fuck!" Jason swore suddenly, the band all turned to him, equally surprised and confused by his outburst./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I am span style="font-style: oblique;"not/span getting in that van with any of you behind the wheel," before anyone could respond, Jason's fingers curled around Roy's wrist, "And neither are you," he told the older boy sternly, his eyes blazed and his hold tightened./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Everything was silent for a tense moment, all of them frozen and contemplating. It was Joey who spoke up, "Alright fine, we'll all just crash out in the back," he waved a hand in a dismissive gesture before he reached for the sliding door./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason stared at Roy, awaiting his reaction. The older boy's expression softened when he met Jason's gaze. He knew that Jason needed to get home. With a sigh, Roy turned to Chucky, and held out a hand. "Gimme your keys. It's not that I don't trust you, but I don't."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Chucky huffed but handed the keys over without complaint, Roy walked over to stand at Jason's side. "We'll walk back, we're not wasted, so it's not a problem. I'll text you guys tomorrow." He told his bandmates sternly, they all grunted and waved their goodbyes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy and Jason headed over the road, opposite the bars entrance, they took a shortcut through a small wooded area that led onto private property, large fields stretched before them. It was far too late for anyone to notice them trespassing, and the walk through the grass was peaceful. They could use some peace after the night that they'd been through./p 


	12. Chapter 12

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They walked in somewhat tense silence for a few long moments. The evening had taken it's toll on them both in different ways, so much seemed to have happened in such a short space of time. Roy had felt like he was being torn in two, with his loyalties tested and his heart filled with guilt for putting Jason through such a debacle. Jason felt a little like he'd been intruding. Though he would never regret showing his support to his friend, he still picked up on the fact that Roy and the guys from the band clearly had a dynamic between them that his presence had disrupted./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Suddenly Roy sighed deeply and flopped backwards to lie upon the banking of the field. The grass was dew covered in the late night, that was actually early morning. He gazed upwards and a wistful smile flitted across his face. "Like a hole straight up to the sky," he murmured./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason frowned a little in confusion as he sat beside Roy. He tilted his head back to view the starry sky, twinkling constellations blinked down upon them, the tops of trees and the silhouettes of towering buildings formed a misshapen frame in his peripheral, like they were laying in a crater. It was indeed like a hole straight up to the sky. Jason laid back beside Roy to appreciate it better./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Did I ever tell you how I ended up with Oliver?" Roy asked randomly, his arms were folded behind his head and his voice was almost melancholic./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had wondered about Roy's upbringing, of course he had. He'd always been a curious child, it had often gotten him into trouble. But with a childhood like Jason's, trouble was par for the course. He'd never asked about Roy's upbringing, he didn't want to offer Roy the opportunity to ask questions of his own. After all, turn about's only fair. He presumed that Roy's childhood involved Native American culture, Roy had mentioned a reservation in multiple off-hand comments throughout their friendship. Jason debated on how to respond when Roy spoke again./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""There was a fire, I don't remember, I was too little. But, my dad was a ranger. He died saving people's lives. Brave Bow was the last my father saved, and he took me in. I grew up as a member of the Tachii'ni clan. The Navajo don't use names the way that other people do, they see them as sacred and private. They called me Lost Arrow." Roy's smile was a little sad as he explained, and Jason listened patiently, he kept his gaze on the stars, as if afraid that Roy would feel pressured if he was looking at him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason thought over what Roy had told him, he couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be adopted into a whole new culture, to know that it's a part of who you are, even though you don't look anything like the kids you grew up with. Jason was glad that Roy had been given the childhood he very easily could've been robbed of./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oliver Queen had a cabin in that wood, a romantic getaway location. My dad's warning saved his life. And when Mr Queen came around to rebuild his property, he donated a lot of money to help rebuild the things the Navajo had lost too. That's how we met. But I stayed with Brave Bow, of course. Brave Bow loved me," Roy trailed off again, a sigh escaped his lips. Jason wondered what it must have been like to have met your legal guardian long before they ever took you in. He could admit now that Bruce Wayne was nothing like the tabloids made him out to be./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Navajo believe in spiritual balances, there are a lot of bad omens, taboos. Exposure to them means bad luck, misfortune, illness. You have to restore the balance. Think of it as karma, I suppose," Roy explained, as he started to pick at the surrounding grass absently. "When Brave Bow got sick, they- it's a taboo, y'know? Only family and loved ones can help heal someone. An outsider would disrupt the whole process, and I- they loved me, okay? But his life- He- He was too important, they couldn't risk it.-" Roy's voice cracked and he turned on his side, his back was to Jason now, but the younger boy could still see how his shoulders shuddered despite the dark. "I didn't get to say goodbye."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason sat dumbstruck. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. He knew better than most people, because he'd seen death first-hand. But, he hadn't known at the time what was happening, not exactly. But, Roy must have known his father's days were numbered, and he'd been kept from him until it was too late. Jason couldn't imagine how Roy had felt in those days, walking around with the constant weight of knowing he'd likely never see Brave Bow again. He'd been just a child, and the person who he'd turned to for comfort his whole life was the one person he was being separated from./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, Roy," Jason breathed, he placed a tentative hand on the older boy's quaking shoulder./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He didn't understand why Roy was telling him all of this now, perhaps it was still the alcohol in his system giving him a little liquid courage, maybe he was just so tired of keeping it all in that it spewed out. Regardless of the reasoning, Jason was proud that Roy trusted him enough to tell him. Jason wished he had the bravery to tell Roy about himself, but he didn't have much faith in people these days, and regardless of how much he valued the older boy, he'd learnt the hard way that hits come from where you least expect them, and humanity as a whole can be inherently cruel./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled a little self-deprecatingly, the sound was a hollow, wet rattle that made Jason's heart ache for his friend. The younger boy scooted closer, he wanted more than anything to offer comfort, but was at a loss for how to do that. Roy didn't react to Jason's close proximity, so Jason carefully placed a hand on Roy's side, he wound his fingers into the fabric of Roy's shirt, and his nose skimmed the curve of Roy's back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't remember my real dad," Roy startled them both by speaking again, "But sometimes I think I remember the fire. Maybe it's a memory, maybe it's been fabricated by all of the things that people have told me. But, I think I remember the way the wood cracked, popped. The smoke was black, thick, everywhere. The heat came off the earth for days afterwards. Sometimes I have nightmares where everything is black and crackling and I wake up and I can't breathe. And I'd go out into the valley, and I'd lie spread-out on a boulder and watch the stars, feel the heat of the day slowly leave the rock, seep into my skin. It was different to the fire, calmer, more warmth that anything else, felt safe," Roy sounded close to sleep, like his re-telling had taken a lot out of him, and Jason figured that perhaps it had, "Kinda like right now."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason smiled softly, wanted to stay there forever. But he knew they had to get back, the chill of the night was biting at them, and the sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jay?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thank you."/p 


	13. Chapter 13

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Having gotten back to the manor at just past 3 in the morning, Jason didn't surface again until the Sunday afternoon. Alfred served up an omelette while Jason sat, sleep-rumbled, at the counter. He'd just begun to dig in when Alfred suddenly excused himself, Jason watched him leave and caught sight of Bruce leaning in the doorway, his expression was unreadable./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Without a word, Bruce stepped forward, he retrieved a folded piece of paper from his pocket as he walked, he laid it flat on the breakfast bar beside Jason's plate. It was one of the flyers Roy had gotten into trouble for at school. The frog illustration stared up at him mockingly and Jason gave an audible gulp./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You lied to me," Bruce's voice was stern, gave no room for an argument - not that Jason had one. He looked up into the disappointed eyes of his guardian and his shoulders slumped./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I met a colleague for brunch this morning and they showed me this. Their daughter brought it home from school. Apparently Oliver Queen's ward was causing trouble again, he's bad news." Bruce continued almost conversationally./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason bristled, "They don't know him," he stated hotly, the words dripping from his tongue and laced with venom./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce simply raised an eyebrow at his young ward, surprised by the immediate, protective edge to his response. "Jason, I forgave that you called Alfred to pick you up at 3 o'clock this morning after you had us worried sick. I forgave you for not dropping us a message to let us know you were safe. I forgave you for having your phone off all night," he listed, his voice was filled with disappointment and it ate away at Jason, he had never meant to let Bruce down. "I believed you when you told me you'd fallen asleep watching movies, I thought span style="font-style: oblique;"'these things happen'/span, I was even glad that you'd found someone your own age to spend time with, I thought it would be good for you. You've never given me any reason to doubt you. But Jason, I cannot forgive you lying to me. I can't condone you putting yourself at risk for somebody who may only cause you trouble."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce sighed softly and placed a gentle hand on Jason's shoulder. Jason blinked owlishly down at the poster, and he considered whether everything had been worth Bruce's disappointment, and there was a part of him that wanted to say 'no, nothing was worth letting Bruce down', but another part of him recognized that Roy was becoming increasingly more important, and those moments that they'd lain in that field as Roy had cracked right before his eyes, that had been worth it. Roy had needed him and he had been there. That was worth everything./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry I lied. I didn't want to. I was just so worried that you'd say no. And I really wanted to be there for him. He's my friend."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce scrubbed a hand down his face as though tired, "I understand that Jason, but something very easily could've happened to you."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason frowned, his eyes became misty in the face of Bruce's unwavering gaze and unfaltering concern, it was something that Jason still sometimes didn't know how to handle. "I know. Bruce, I'm not just some kid. I had to grow up pretty fast, and I know you don't like to think about it, neither do I. But I know those streets better than most people, I span style="font-style: oblique;"can/span take care of myself," Jason tried again to explain, "span style="font-style: oblique;"I just needed to be there./span"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A hint of sadness reached the billionaire's eyes and a gruff sigh escaped him. "Jason, that's no excuse and this isn't a debate. You're grounded."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason's mouth fell open. Bruce stared at him for a long moment before leaving the room and Jason didn't know how to react. He'd never been grounded before./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy woke up to the sound of someone rummaging through the kitchen, considering that Oliver hadn't even been gone for a full 7 days, it was incredibly unlikely to be him. Because Roy was still half-asleep it didn't occur to him to consider the only other person who had a key. Assuming he'd have to fight off some pretty ambitious burglars, he grabbed a baseball bat and slunk silently down the stairs. It wasn't until he got to the foyer that he picked up on the tell-tale humming that could only be Dinah./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As Oliver's sometimes-girlfriend, whenever he was in town, Roy would've thought that she'd have something better to do with her Sunday than invade his house. As he rounded the corner into the kitchen, she was happily raiding the fridge./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Morning," Roy called abruptly, causing her to jump slightly, and very nearly smash her head on the top shelf./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She flicked her gaze over to the clock, "Afternoon, more like," but she was grinning at him somewhat fondly. Roy rolled his eyes but returned the smile./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy liked Dinah, she was kindhearted and honest, way too good for someone like Oliver Queen who was never around to appreciate her. She always tried with Roy, though the age difference between her and Ollie made her in no way old enough to be Roy's mother, she always made sure to include Roy wherever possible./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What're you even doing here?" He couldn't help but ask./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well, young man, I'll have you know that I have a birthday party to attend tonight, and the dress I wanted to wear was in Ollie's wardrobe. So, I thought I'd stop by and get it. And because span style="font-style: oblique;"someone/span was being a lazy shit, I figured I'd cook up some dinner for us while I was here."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled lightly, a part of him was glad that she wasn't just checking in on him, it made him feel like a child, the other part of him was disappointed that she wasn't, at least that would've meant that she - or Ollie, if he'd sent her - cared./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Why do you put up with him?" Roy asked suddenly, he couldn't hold it back anymore, he didn't understand it. Dinah clearly had an active social life, why would she wait around for someone like Oliver?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Dinah sighed softly and took a seat across from Roy at the dining table. She reached over to place a delicate hand atop of his. "Roy, you don't understand-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy scoffed and promptly withdrew his hand from her grasp. He didn't need Dinah treating him like some kid. He could see that Oliver had no time for either of them, he just couldn't comprehend why. Dinah's pitying tone just got his back up./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You don't know Oliver the way that I do. His childhood was- well, his family has always been wealthy. Anything that Ollie wanted? He got it. And when you grow up living this life of instant gratification, well, you grow up feeling a little entitled." She began, and Roy huffed a little, span style="font-style: oblique;"instant gratification/span was something he'd become closely acquainted with recently./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""When his parents died, it hit him pretty hard. He wanted to make sure he span style="font-style: oblique;"lived/span his life, y'know? And I'm not making excuses for him, I wouldn't do that. But Ollie can be rather dense. He doesn't always see what's right in front of him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care. He span style="font-style: oblique;"tries/span, Roy, he just doesn't always succeed. But he loves you, he's just not very good at showing it, he doesn't know how to be what you need. And I think that scares him a little."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy considered that, and he had to concede that most teenagers his age would give anything to have their parents butt out of their business and leave them alone, but those kids were simply taking what they had for granted. He sighed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I love Ollie. And I know he loves me, because he always comes back, and he needs me. And the same goes for you. Just, don't give up on him, 'kay?" She implored him, she leaned over the table with wide, sincere eyes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I think he's already given up on me," Roy whispered, his chest was stinging and his heart felt heavy./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, sweetie," Dinah breathed before she rounded the table to envelope him in a hug./p 


	14. Chapter 14

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The week that Jason spent grounded was difficult. Roy felt immense guilt about getting Jason into trouble, but the younger boy ensured him that he was responsible for his own choices, and that he didn't regret his decision. Jason had vowed that he'd do it again if he had to, and Roy once again wondered what he'd done right to have Jason be a part of his life./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They saw each other for an hour after school so that they could study. They spent that time at the library so that Alfred could pick Jason up the second the hour was up, at the front gate. Jason was more than okay with those terms, he wanted to get back into his guardian's good graces. He was completely comfortable with dealing with the consequences of his action, at least on the outside. In reality, Jason was baffled by how he could miss Roy so much even though he saw him everyday. In some ways it felt a lot like they'd regressed back to being simply tutor and student, school work was the only thing that brought them together./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The following week, when Jason's strict curfew was lifted, they decided to celebrate by having a movie marathon at Queen mansion, just the two of them. It was late afternoon, and they were sat out on the garden wall, Jason gazed up at the older boy. The setting sun set the sky ablaze, Roy's silhouette was stark and crisp against the backdrop, his unruly hair was blowing in the slight breeze, and his lips were tilted in a lazy smile as he breathed out a wisp of cigarette smoke. For a second, Jason had the fleeting thought of how he'd love to snapshot the moment. He ducked his head and took a drag quickly, so that Roy wouldn't notice his stare./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What do you mean you've never seen a horror movie?!" Roy let out, drawing Jason's attention back to the conversation at hand. The older boy actually looked affronted./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There had never been any opportunities to watch many movies at all when Jason was growing up. He didn't want to talk about the implications of that though, so he simply shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal. He figured that horror movies wouldn't phase him, he'd seen enough bad shit happening to last a lifetime, he'd witnessed things first hand that still gave him nightmares, there's no way some guy in a costume was going to get to him at all. But Roy looked eager to show him, so he'd happily oblige him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"What Jason hadn't counted on, was how devastatingly wrong he was. And though he was sure that he wasn't so much span style="font-style: oblique;"frightened/span as he was span style="font-style: oblique;"ill-prepared/span. He hadn't expected anything like what he was witnessing. Ignorance is bliss after all. They were barely an hour into Dead Silence and Jason was embarrassingly jumpy. They were sat side-by-side on the large sofa, a blanket was haphazardly thrown across their laps, Jason's fingers were clenching and unclenching around its fleecy fabric as he watched the next scene play out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled when Jason let out an unconscious little squeak, and his body flinched. The younger boy promptly scowled and elbowed Roy sharply in the ribs. "You're making me watch this shit. I'm doing this for you, you don't get to make fun of me," Jason griped./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Don't worry, it's cute," Roy sent back with another low chuckle./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Don't call me cute," Jason tossed back dismissively, before he shot his gaze back to the screen and tried to ignore the mess of feelings that Roy's words had stirred./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason felt Roy shift slightly beside him, he tugged the blanket around himself more firmly and Jason felt the older boy's hand come up to play with the hair at his nape. When Jason leaned back into the affection, he turned to see Roy's arched brow. Jason stared at Roy for a long moment, the expanse of the older boy's side looked warm and inviting, and with a tiny shrug he adjusted his position. He sat against Roy's side, his shoulder was tucked under the older boy's arm, and Roy's hand came to rest on his chest. It felt nice./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Throughout the rest of the evening they stayed that way, at some point Roy's opposite hand had curled around Jason's hip, and whenever the younger boy jumped as they continued to watch movies, Roy would give him a reassuring squeeze. They both, of course, recognized that his wasn't standard span style="font-style: oblique;"friend/span behaviour, and they weren't ready to talk about what that meant. It felt important though, like it was supposed to happen somehow./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But the closer Jason got to Roy, the more be began to depend on him. Jason relished the fact that he had someone in his life who he could be himself around, someone that took him as he was and made him feel like his age for a change. But, he also acknowledged that a huge part of that was because Roy didn't know the truth, didn't know where he'd come from or who he'd once been. And the fear that Roy might turn him away once he found out was potent, it made his chest feel hollowed out and aching raw. He pressed closer into the warmth of his friend's body, and his face fell onto Roy's chest. He listened to the steady thump of the older boy's heart, and Roy, who assumed Jason's movement was in response to the movie, just squeezed him tighter./p 


	15. Chapter 15

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was a perfectly mundane Wednesday, the sky was clouded over but mercifully dry. There was nothing extraordinary about the way Roy practically inhaled a few of Alfred's brownies. Jason always brought extra for his friend. Roy didn't have anyone to bake treats for him, and Jason would share anything with Roy. It was a completely standard lunch hour, Jason watched his friend with a fondly sincere gaze, chuckled at the chocolate smudge on his chin. Anyone looking in on them would find nothing unusual./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But Jason's heart was beating fiercely in his chest, and he's on the verge of slight panic. He didn't know when or how this happened. There was no singular event that triggered this revelation, it was a painfully anticlimactic epiphany, and he didn't know how to deal with all that he's feeling, didn't know where to put these thoughts. Roy flicked his tongue out to lick away the crumbs at the edge of his mouth, and Jason loved him. That was it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason wanted Roy to never leave. He realised that his friend was so vastly important, had worked into everything until nothing else mattered as much. And the force of that acknowledgment had thrown the younger boy for a loop, but at the same time, perhaps he should've seen this coming all along. He could see how Roy was hurting, and it made him ache inside that he was helpless to stop it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Even from the beginning, Jason had thrown all of his rules out of the window to be whatever Roy needed. He'd lied to Bruce, even though he'd known that Roy would've forgiven his absence at the gig. Jason had never, ever thought he'd be in a position where he would disrespect his guardian for the sake of someone else. But Roy hadn't even asked that of him, yet he'd done it without hesitation, like it had been the only logical course of action. Jason was not usually comfortable with casual physical affection, it was a byproduct of his childhood, a fear that arms extended under the guise of comfort could ultimately do him harm. Yet every lingering touch between him and Roy made him want to cling longer, get closer./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy had no idea. Roy saw himself as less than he was, as if undeserving of the affection he was starved for. And it made Jason feel sick to think about, didn't Roy know that he deserved everything? Jason knew his friend wouldn't believe him if he were to tell him so. The younger boy had been through enough to know that some wounds never truly heal, and break open again at the slightest touch, weep past their bandages. He was determined to prove to Roy in time, that he was worth more than what he was being given./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Now that Jason had accepted his feelings, he was anxious about how he would handle then in practise. He couldn't tell Roy now, it was too much and there was too much going on with Roy, Jason was sure he still didn't know the extent of it. Not to mention that there were too many secrets between them still for him to feel comfortable making himself so vulnerable by spilling his heart out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy noted that Jason was quieter than usual, his eyes were a little glazed over, there was a distant expression on his face. He waved a hand in front of the younger boy's face in a bid to get him to focus. Jason jerked back to the present, blinking owlishly and promptly dropping his gaze to the table top./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy frowned, he nudged Jason's arm with his elbow and quirked a brow, "What's up?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nothing," Jason said immediately, and then chuckled nervously./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy just arched his eyebrow further, thoroughly unconvinced. He stared at his friend for a long moment, before ultimately deciding to let it slide. He was confident that Jason would talk to him about it whenever he was ready. With a shrug, Roy turned his attention back to his lunch. He could feel Jason's gaze burning a hole in the side of his face, without looking up he simply grumbled, "Seriously, man, what?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nothing," Jason repeated, picking up his half-eaten sandwich, "It's nothing."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But it wasn't nothing. It was anything but./p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.234px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.12px; background-color: #ffffff;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce Wayne had noticed a change in his son. Jason seemed a lot more open than he'd ever seen him, animated in ways that were subtle but wholly different to how he'd been previously. Jason had always been enthusiastic about his life at Wayne Manor, grateful and eager in all aspects of his new home, but there was something specific about his recent positivity. Bruce would've had to have been blind to not see the direct correlation between Jason's attitude and a boy named Roy Harper. Bruce had yet to meet the boy in Oliver Queen's care, and Jason had told him that he had yet to meet Oliver. The fact that Jason spent a lot of time at Queen Mansion but had yet to meet the man himself rang alarm bells, but Bruce didn't mention it, he decided that he'd wait it out a little longer to see how things progressed. Jason seemed happy, and the friendship between the two boys seemed to be good for them both. If something isn't broken, don't go trying to fix it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But, much more recently, Bruce had noticed that Jason was distant, pensive. The teenager was easily distracted and not as talkative to either him or Alfred. There was clearly something bothering him, Bruce could swear he could hear the cogs turning in Jason's mind as he thought. Deciding to check on his young ward, Bruce made his way to Jason's room, and he peered around the door. Jason was led out on his stomach across the rug, his homework was spread before him, but his eyes were unfocused and turned towards the window, his hand absentmindedly tapped his pen against the paper, a repetitive, off-beat sound that he didn't seem to be aware of causing. Bruce frowned slightly, worry creased his brow and he knocked on the door to draw Jason's attention./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was conflicted. Ever since his sudden revelation in the cafeteria the previous week he'd been floundering. He'd tried to back-pedal. There was a part of him that wanted to remain in denial, because it would be easier for the time being to simply pretend that nothing had changed. There was a deep-seated fear within him, and a nagging worry that his feelings wouldn't be returned, that if he were to come clean to Roy - not just about the extent of his affections - but about himself in general, then he would lose Roy entirely. Roy's friendship was too precious, the camaraderie they'd obtained was something that Jason valued very highly, and he'd come to the conclusion that it didn't matter what role Roy filled in his life, as long as Roy continued to be a part of it. He'd wondered if he was simply over-reacting. It was perfectly plausible that he was. After all, he'd never even been close to span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"in love/span with someone before. It was a serious declaration to make, a wild and important word that he didn't want to simply throw around. There were many, many forms of love. And sure, he could love Roy without being span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"in love/span with him. He wondered if maybe that was all it was. Maybe all of his over-analyzing had made his appreciation for his friend into something that it wasn't. But, on the flip-side of that, as Jason had no basis for comparison, he also couldn't span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"rule out/span the very real possibility that he was, in fact, in love with his best friend. It was complicated, there were so many factors to consider./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another concern that Jason had was that, he was 16, and up until recently he'd had no desire or intention of dating anyone. He'd never met anyone that he felt he could build something with. A lot of that he'd contributed to his past, it was difficult for him to trust people and be open about his feelings, so it would stand to reason that he'd be reluctant and unenthusiastic about romance as a result. But, now these conflicting feelings about Roy were mixing everything up to the point where Jason wasn't sure what he wanted anymore. And, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"if/span his feelings for Roy were as real as he thought they might be, what did it mean that the first person that he'd felt like dating was another boy? His first thought was that maybe he was gay, but he quickly dismissed that, because it wasn't span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"boys/span he was attracted to, but rather span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"boy/span, singular and specific to Roy in particular. The whole thing was giving him a headache, and the very thought that he might need to eventually explain all of it to Bruce made him want to puke. He was mostly annoyed at himself, he was working himself up over nothing, it wasn't like he and Roy would ever be dating anyway. The only time he'd seen Roy express interest in anyone was at Battle of the Bands, and that had been a girl./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sharp knock on his door had him whipping his head around so fast his neck hurt with the movement. He catalogued the almost weary expression on his guardian's face as the man stepped into the room. He offered Bruce a small smile and tilted his head in inquiry./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How's the homework going? Do you need any help?" Bruce asked, more as a way to start a conversation than anything else. He knew that if Jason needed assistance he would've sought it out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce had always felt that he and Jason had established an honest, loving relationship, in which Jason knew and trusted that he could come to him with any problems. The fact that there was clearly something going on with his son that Bruce wasn't privy to, didn't sit well with him. He'd briefly consulted with Alfred about the slight change in Jason's general demeanor. The butler had tried to impart to Bruce that Jason was a teenager, and long overdue for a friendship that allowed him a little healthy, adolescent freedom. It was perfectly standard for Jason to distance himself from his legal guardian slightly in favour of spending time with a friend his own age. Though the millionaire conceded to the Englishman's point, he was still a little uncomfortable with the possibility that something could be bothering Jason, perhaps he could help, but he couldn't do that if Jason didn't talk to him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason gave a small sigh and shook his head, the smile he gave his guardian was genuine, if not a little muted, "Nah, I'm okay. I can handle it. Just a little distracted, I guess."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh?" Bruce asked, as if he hadn't already presumed as much, "You wanna tell me what's on your mind?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's not important, just stuff," Jason hedged, an indifferent shrug accompanied his words, but Bruce wasn't convinced./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Taking a stab in the dark Bruce wondered, "Does it have anything to do with your friend Roy?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce watched, almost baffled as Jason bit into his bottom lip almost shyly, there was a rush of blood under his pale skin and he looked almost embarrassed. Bruce hadn't anticipated such a telling response. Jason reached a hand back to scratch at the back of his neck. "Uh...You don't mind that I'm hanging out with him, right? I mean, I know you don't like him too much, but..."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It wasn't strictly true, not by any stretch. Bruce thought that Jason's lying had been irresponsible and reckless, he'd pondered the possibility of Roy being a bad influence, but he'd never met the boy, and wasn't one to pass judgments so quickly. He recognized that Jason was responsible for his own wrong-doing, regardless of the motivation. He thought perhaps he should make an effort to get to know the boy that had caused such a change in his son, however, he didn't want to step on any toes, or stick his nose in where it wasn't wanted. At 16, most kids didn't want their parents interfering with their business. Bruce weighed up his options./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jason, I've never said I don't like him, I was disappointed in your choices, and he might have been a part of that, but I don't blame him, or you...It's normal for you to want to step out a little more," Bruce took a seat on the foot of Jason's bed, and glanced down upon the boy who was still spread out on the floor, his head was tilted back to meet the older man's eyes. "Maybe you should invite him around for dinner next week, it's about time he came around here. You always go over there," When Jason didn't immediately respond, Bruce patted him on the shoulder before getting up to leave, "Just think about it,"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason watched Bruce leave and softly close the door behind him. With a sigh, he turned back to his homework, that lay unfinished before him. He was utterly unmotivated to complete the task set out. He wanted to talk to Roy. Despite his inner turmoil and confusion in regards to the extent and definition of his feelings, he still felt that Roy was essential, that somehow even with all of the over-thinking and pending panic, just speaking with the older boy calmed everything down, it was so effortless. With a quick glance at the clock, Jason knew that Roy would still be at band practice, it was a Friday night after all. He wished he could text him, just to say that he missed him, he wished he was in a position to do something like that and have it be simple./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It took just under an hour for him to complete his assignment, and once he'd finished he promptly filed it away in his backpack, so that it would be where he needed it be come Monday morning, it was comforting to have that little thing organized. It brought him peace of mind to know that he wouldn't need to touch his school things at all for the whole weekend, and they'd be ready for him when he needed them. He headed down to the kitchen to retrieve the left-overs that Alfred had dished up for him. He tapped a beat upon the marble counter top as he waited for the microwave to count down. He nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated in his pocket, the microwave beeping obnoxiously a few seconds later./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong[text: Roy]:/strong Hey, what're you doing? :)/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason couldn't help but smile as he quickly thumbed in a response. Roy was out with his band mates, who've known him longer than Jason has, who have more in common with him than Jason does, yet Roy still wanted to talk to span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"him/span. That had to mean something, didn't it? Jason really hoped it did./p 


	16. Chapter 16

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy knew that he was in too deep. The reality was that upon moving in with Oliver, he'd been full of boundless positive energy, the kind of disposition that can only be carried by children. He'd been so sure that everything was going to be so much better. Oliver had a huge house and shiny cars and Roy could have whatever he wanted, and though Roy had never been a materialistic person - not by any stretch - as a kid he'd been so enamored by the grand scale of Ollie's fortune, and the endless possibilities that were at his disposal as a result. He'd never expected things to go so down-hill so fast, he'd never imagined that he would be shunned and mocked by his school peers because of his background, he'd never thought that Oliver would leave him to his own devices so often that Roy felt completely alone in the world. He'd never dreamed that he'd somehow develop a habit for making self-destructive decisions as a means to cope with his negative feelings. But, ultimately, Roy had never seen Jason coming./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had crawled under Roy's skin and made a home for himself, like the second that Roy's back was turned and his defenses were down, Jay had set up camp and vowed to stay. And suddenly, Roy felt like he could be better than what he was settling for. For the first time in entirely too long Roy had someone who brought out only the good in him, and Roy wished that it was enough, that one good person could be enough to erase all the damage that he'd done to himself, the damage that had been done to him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He liked the version of himself that he saw in the distant, potential future whenever he thought about Jason's influence on him. He wanted to be the kind of person that Jason could be proud to associate with, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult for him to spend time with his band mates without feeling like he was being torn in two, the guilt ate away at him, eroded the edges of every thought he had, until the only clear thing in mind was Jason./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy loved drumming, always had. It was his freedom. But suddenly, he didn't know who he was, it wasn't exactly a foreign concept. Roy had remade himself upon joining Great Frog. He'd felt so out of step that the need to become someone else had been irresistible. He'd taken the position as drummer and modeled himself after those he'd admired. He'd decided on the person he was going to be, painted over his former self and gave the performance of a lifetime everyday. Fake it 'til you make it. He hadn't made it yet. He was barely settled in his new shoes, still trying to flesh out the nuances of his character, and already this rendition of himself he'd created felt unfamiliar. He felt like a fraud. When he was with Jason, he felt an overwhelming calm, a realization that span style="font-style: oblique;"this is who i'm meant to be/span, but in every other aspect of his life he was bombarded with the feeling of span style="font-style: oblique;"i don't know who i am, so i'll make someone new/span./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Looking around Chucky's step-dad's garage at the mess of instruments and a precariously stacked CD collection, Roy just missed Jason. He passed the joint along and text his friend, and couldn't help the shit-eating grin that dominated his features when he got an almost instantaneous response./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong[text: Jay]:/strong Not a lot :) Just finished my homework, what about you?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy nearly chuckled, it was so typical of Jay to have his priorities in order. Never put off until tomorrow what you have time to do today. If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. Roy quickly typed out a reply./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong[text: Roy]:/strong Just band practice. Same old, same old./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy wanted to tell Jason he missed him, but that would've been a little pathetic, and completely left-field. Roy himself wasn't entirely sure where that thought had come from, and though it was true, that didn't mean he felt particularity inclined to broadcast it. He could hear the boys talking around him, but he was paying no heed to the words, didn't even know the topic of discussion. His phone buzzed in his hand./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong[text: Jay]:/strong This is really weird. Feel free to say no. But Bruce kinda wants you to come to dinner soon./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy froze, and reread the message a few times. He didn't have an immediate response to that, wasn't sure of his own reaction. The idea of meeting Bruce Wayne was daunting, just the idea of the man intimidated him badly enough. It was also a little peculiar, Roy had never eaten dinner with a friend's parents before. He'd always thought of span style="font-style: oblique;"dinner with the parents/span as a thing that span style="font-style: oblique;"couples/span did, and he and Jason were certainly not romantically involved in any sense. If it had been anyone else asking, Roy would've declined, but he had a hard time saying no to Jason, and he refused to dwell on what that meant./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong style="font-size: 15.12px;"[text: Roy]:/strongspan style="font-size: 15.12px;" sure, i'll be there/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="font-size: 15.12px;"_/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy palms were clammy and his fingers were quaking with nerves as he raised a hand to ring the door bell. He'd been dreading this ever since he'd initially agreed, all throught he school week Jason had been adamant that Roy could back out at any time, and it wouldn't be a problem. But, Roy had vowed to stick to his guns, so he found himself on the porch of Wayne Manor the following Saturday afternoon. There was a brief sound of shuffling from behind the door before it opened. Roy looked into the eyes of a balding man in formal wear, and in his peripheral he caught sight of Jason peering around the man's elbow. He grinned at him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Good afternoon, Master Roy," the man spoke, his accent was thick and distinctly English, "I'm Alfred Pennyworth, welcome to Wayne Manor. Master Bruce is being held up on a business call. So, why don't you and Master Jason wait upstairs and I'll call you when lunch is ready?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason grabbed hold of Roy's wrist and dragged him up the stairs with a hurried 'thanks, Alfred!' over his shoulder. Roy rushed to keep up, his nerves quickly dissipated in the face of Jason's clear enthusiasm. They reached the second floor, and Jason led him to a room at the far end of the hall, it was large and luxurious, but clearly toned down enough and decorated appropriately for it to be Jason's bedroom. The desk was piled high with papers and textbooks, the book shelves were full of thick volumes with cracked spines that were clearly well-read. Jason stood in the room's center with a beaming smile on his face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hi!" Jason finally greeted, and Roy chuckled./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey, " he returned before gesturing to the scene in the foyer with a thumb over his shoulder, "What's with the 'master'? That's not like...a kinky thing, right?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Roy!" Jason gasped, clearly scandalized by the very idea but his eyes were shiny with bright amusement, even as he shoved a Roy's shoulder./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy just laughed at Jason's flushed cheeks, he found his friend's embarrassment rather endearing. Cracking jokes, no matter how inappropriate they may be, had always helped Roy compose himself a little, and ease the tension. There was a part of Roy that hoped that Jason was nervous too, so that he wouldn't be alone in this. He wanted to ask Jason about Bruce, wanted to say span style="font-style: oblique;"what if he doesn't like me?/span. The words pushed at his lips, but Roy would never let them out, couldn't make himself appear weak that way. He had to maintain his front, make out that he didn't give a fuck if Bruce Wayne didn't like him, he didn't need his validation anyway. Except, Roy really wanted Mr Wayne to like him, for Jason's sake mostly, but also because if he could convince one billionaire playboy that he wasn't so bad, that he was worth something, then perhaps there'd be hope still for the same acknowledgement from Oliver. Roy hated himself for having that thought, for dwelling on Oliver when the man didn't deserve it. Roy felt feeble, crying out for attention from someone who was unwilling to provide it, like he was screaming with his mouth closed and the sound was simply echoing back and deafening him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jason!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A bellow came from the bottom of the stairs, the voice was deep and carried no inflection or accent, obviously not the butler. Jason smiled and ushered Roy back out of his bedroom, and Roy realized that he was about to come face-to-face with Bruce Wayne, and he really wasn't ready. Before he could voice any protest - not that he would regardless - Jason stopped abruptly and turned to him. The younger boy reached for Roy's hand, and briefly entwined their fingers, so briefly that Roy's mind hadn't caught up on what was happening until it was too late./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's okay," Jason murmured, and offered a smile of encouragement./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy steeled himself, squared his shoulders and raised his chin, he gave a nod./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You ready?" Jay asked, almost teasingly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Born ready," Roy couldn't help but quip./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason scoffed and chuckled good-naturedly, he gave Roy a fond smile that made the older boy feel 10 times more confident that he had been. He was as ready as he was going to be./p 


	17. Chapter 17

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They reached the bottom step and Roy looked up into the eyes of Bruce Wayne. Mr Wayne had a few inches on Roy's 5'9 frame, as was to be expected. Thanks to Roy's last growth spurt, he most likely only had a couple of inches to go before he reached maximum height. In fact, Roy was taller than a lot of boys his own age. But tilting his head back to look at Bruce Wayne was certainly intimidating. Roy reminded himself to maintain eye contact, but he was nervous, understandably. Bruce probably wasn't Roy's biggest fan, considering the bar and Jason's grounding. It made the entire encounter even more daunting./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason seemed oblivious to Roy's anxiety, or perhaps he simply knew that Roy wouldn't want attention drawn to it. Jason cupped a hand over Roy's shoulder and smiled up at his guardian. Bruce may have had a few inches on Roy, but he had a full foot on Jason. Roy almost smirked in fond amusement./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Bruce, this is Roy." Jason introduced, there was a smile in his voice that didn't go unnoticed by either his friend or his father./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce Wayne's eyes crinkled at the corners as he offered Roy a smile full of warmth, a reception that Roy had never thought to expect. Roy fumbled as he thrust a hand forward for the man to shake./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's nice to meet you, Roy." Bruce chuckled warmly as he gave Roy's hand a firm shake./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You too, Mr Wayne," Roy got out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy wasn't used to being unsure of himself in this way. Regardless of his mental doubts and insecurities, he prided himself on being outwardly sure of himself, it was his key defense. He felt vulnerable, exposed in this environment. He wasn't sure how he felt about these people seeing him this way, but the heat of Jason's hand on his shoulder and the seeming acceptance in Bruce's eyes were enough to ease his discomfort./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Suddenly, the butler reappeared in the foyer and cleared his throat to refocus attention. He looked between the people gathered at the foot of the staircase casually, a small smile graced his lips. Alfred inclined his head towards the dining room down the hall./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dinner's served," he informed them./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The took their seats quickly, large squares of cheesy, creamy lasagna were in the center of each large dinner plate, and deep, steaming dishes were passed around containing a selection of homegrown vegetables./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alfred has loads of stuff in his greenhouse, he's trying to grow strawberries right now," Jason imparted, smiling over at the aging man with adoring impression./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy really felt a sense of genuine family, for the first time since leaving the reservation. Alfred Pennyworth wasn't just the hired help, he was a member of the Wayne family, he was someone that Jason looked up to and valued and loved. There was a sense of warm familiarity in every inch of the manor, and instead of feeling out of place - the way that Roy feared he would - he felt welcomed. More at home than he ever had at Queen Mansion./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy tore off a piece of baguette bread, the garlic butter dripped down his palm as he dunked it into his hearty meal. Jason chuckled as a smear of meaty sauce marred Roy's chin. If the boys weren't so absorbed in their own laughter, they might have noticed the look that the two older men exchanged./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So, Roy...Jason said you like music?" Bruce ventured./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason beamed at his guardian, he knew that Bruce was feeling out of his depth, and he was extremely grateful for the man's effort and interest. Roy stiffened slightly beside his friend, unsure of how to proceed without bringing up the unfortunate 'I took your son to a dive-bar' situation. Jason smiled encouragingly and discreetly squeezed his knee under the table./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Uh, yeah... I, uh, I'm good with drums. I like music 'cause it's like... Like self-expression, y'know? Like people really listen to you, and they get it." Roy tried to explain, he wasn't sure if they could appreciate his sentiment./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce nodded almost thoughtfully and took a few more bites of his dinner as he pondered his response. Roy looked down at the table top, he was apprehensive about whether or not he'd made sense. Though he felt very welcomed by them, he was still the new guy, and disrupting their usual dinnertime dynamic. He wasn't sure what was expected of him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What does your guardian think of your pursuit?" Bruce asked casually. It was a perfectly logical and warranted question, there was no way for Bruce to know how close to the mark it hit./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Uh, he..he doesn't really care all that much. Pretty much just lets me do what I want, I guess." Roy figured it was best to be vague, give Bruce no ammunition for another inquiry./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce furrowed his brow but didn't wrangle for a more elaborate answer. He glanced at Alfred briefly. Jason cleared his throat a little awkwardly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How's the new orphanage coming, Bruce?" Jason asked, before he turned to Roy to fill in the blanks, "There's an old orphanage called St Peter's, it's on its last legs, and pretty much wasn't salvageable. The Wayne foundation are opening a brand new home, and transferring all the St Peter's kids and staff to the new location. It's still under construction, but Bruce has been donating and helping out at St Peter's until the move."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy flickered a glance over Bruce Wayne, he hadn't expected the man to be so selfless. In his experience billionaire playboys were entitled and self-absorbed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That's uh...that's very nice of you." Roy said./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce smiled at him before launching into a story about the faculty of the orphanage. Bruce had been helping them sort through the donated clothing so that they could match it up with children the same size. Alfred, Jason and Roy were deeply engrossed in the tale, and Roy marveled again at Mr Wayne's willingness to go out and do the dirty work himself for the sake of other people. He couldn't help but think that Ollie could learn a thing or two in this kind of company./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Though Roy felt awful for having the thought, he couldn't help but be envious of the supportive home environment that Jason had at Wayne Manor./p 


	18. Chapter 18

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The following week was Halloween, and the guys from Great Frog had been enlisted to play at some college party over in the neighbouring town. College students meant booze, and lots of it, and free. College students meant an apartment with no supervision and no closing time. Roy couldn't help but be a little excited, and considering the next morning would be his birthday, Roy figured he'd much rather wake up hungover on some stranger's carpet, than alone in the vastness of Queen Mansion./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Considering 17 wasn't a milestone birthday, it was highly unlikely Oliver would make the effort to return home. But, even if he did, Roy wasn't entirely sure he'd be happy to see him. Roy was content to let November 1st pass like it was any other day. However, he wanted Jason to come to the Halloween party with him. He knew that it wasn't the younger boy's idea of fun, and perhaps it was selfish to want him there, but Jay had quickly become his best friend, and having him around when the clock ticked over into his birthday would definitely make him feel less alone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The trouble was, Jason had gotten into trouble - even gotten grounded - the last time Roy had taken him out with the guys. So, it was unlikely Bruce would allow the young boy to go anywhere with Roy again, at least not late at night. But, Roy was a firm believer in 'if you don't ask, you don't get'./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He glanced over at Jason, as they finished off their respective lunches. Dinah had baked up some mini lemon squares - she'd spent the last few nights at the mansion, something about her apartment being renovated. Roy had woken up to find cooling treats on the kitchen counter, beside a note in Dinah's elegant script. Roy had packed a few in his bag, and had shared them with Jason. It was the least he could do considering how often Jason shared some of Alfred's baked goods./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So, do you get along with Dinah?" Jason asked as he picked up a square./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, she's okay. I don't see her all that much. Way more fun than Ollie. And she treats me like her kid without making me feel like a child, if that makes sense?" Roy shrugged. He liked Dinah, but they weren't particularly close./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason groaned appreciatively as he took the final bite of the tart dessert, a few wayward crumbs clung to the corners of his mouth, and Roy was overcome with the sudden urge to reach over and wipe them away. He decided not to dwell on that intrusive and bizarre line of thinking. He had a question to ask anyway./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So," he began conversationally, "It's my birthday Saturday."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I know," Jason replied, his lips curving into an amused, but soft smile./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, well, there's a Halloween party tomorrow night, the band's been asked to play. And, I figure, it could be a Halloween-Birthday combo party. And you should come." Roy imparted, aiming for nonchalant, like it wouldn't matter if Jason said no./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Me? At a college party?" Jay asked, his amused grin become more pronounced, "Aren't I a little young - and a little straight-edge - for those people?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be something you'd wanna do, but I just wanted to ask. 'Cause it's my birthday and you're my best friend, and I didn't want you to think I was just making plans without you." Roy scratched at the back of his neck, a little nervous tick that Jason had learnt to pick up on./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason's thoughts focused on the verbal confirmation that he was Roy's best friend, not those guys from the band who had far more in common with him. It made something clench tight in his chest. If he were being honest with himself his crush on Roy was getting a little ridiculous, bordering on pathetic. But, there was really nothing to be done about it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Plus," Roy went on, "Bruce probably won't want a repeat performance of last time. I wouldn't want you to get grounded again."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason shrugged a little and offered a small smile. "Bruce was actually more disappointed about the lying. I'll see if I can work on him this time."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy seemed to light up from the inside as he met Jason's gaze, "So you'll come?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason chuckled, "I can't make any promises, but I'm gonna try."/p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.234px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.12px; background-color: #ffffff;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"That evening Jason did try. He worked every angle he could./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Bruce, I've never asked you for anything, and I know I lied last time and I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry. I'm asking you now because I learnt my lesson last time, and this is really important to me. He's my best friend and it's his birthday and I really wanna be there. In all the time I've been here I've only ever done one thing you didn't like and I promise it won't happen again. And I'll do all my homework before I go, just please, please pleas-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jason," Bruce cut off the boys incessant rambling, there was a slight curve at the corner of the man's mouth, almost amused./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason jutted out his lower lip in a trembling, pleading pout and Bruce couldn't help but let out a laugh./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce sighed. "Alright, listen carefully, you can go on certain conditions," he began, "You take your phone with you and you text every hour to let us know that you're safe. And you have Alfred pick you up at midnight."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""But the party will probably only just be starting then!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You really shouldn't fight me on this, it's a miracle I've allowed this much. Midnight, no later, Jason."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Can't we please make it ten past? Please?" Jason implored./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce raised an eyebrow as he looked over his son, "What difference would ten minutes make?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason ducked his head as a vivid blush stole over his face. He'd really put his foot in his mouth and this was beyond embarrassing. "Uh…" he hedged, "it's just...it'll be his birthday come midnight and I kinda wanted to wish him happy birthday when his birthday starts…"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bruce sighed, and rolled his eyes, but thankfully didn't comment. "Fine, ten past it is."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was excited, he was positive that Roy would love the gifts he'd bought him - one of them cost a small fortune - he didn't want to give them to Roy at the party where they could easily be misplaced and stolen. He mentioned it to Roy and they'd come to the conclusion that Jason would go over to Queen Mansion the following afternoon. They'd watch movies and Jason would take pity on Roy in his hungover state, and Jason would then give Roy his gifts./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason knew that it was within his best interest to somehow distance himself - emotionally, that is - from Roy. He really couldn't afford for his growing affection towards his best friend to end up skewing his judgement anymore than it already had. He had to make peace with the fact that he and Roy were friends - best friends - and nothing more. The one and only time that Roy had expressed anything other than platonic interest in someone it had been with that groupie at battle of the bands, the very female groupie. And more than just the sexuality complication, Jason and Roy had very little in common, they got along famously and it was clearly enough for Jason to want more, but that didn't mean that Roy felt the same. For all Jason knew, Roy could be looking for someone more like himself, with more common interests. At the heart of it, Jason was a smart kid who tutored him, who had - against the odds - become his friend. That wasn't typically romance material. So, Jason just had to steel himself against these feelings./p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.234px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.12px; background-color: #ffffff;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As it was a Halloween party, costumes were required, but since it was a very last minute thing on Jason's part, he'd simply roughed up some old threadbare clothing, splattered himself with fake blood, and announced himself a zombie. Roy had opted for something similar, just applying a slit throat with make-up one of his band mates had stolen from a younger sister./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason sat idly to the side as the band set up. Roy's bandmates had said very little to him since his arrival, perhaps they didn't like him and were holding a grudge because of what had happened during their last encounter. Jason couldn't bring himself to care. He wasn't interested in their opinions. Roy glanced over at him every couple of minutes, as if checking that he hadn't gone anywhere, and each time he smiled at him. It really wasn't helping Jason's resolve./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Before long people started to trickle in, the party was surely not far from starting. It was nearing ten o'clock and Jason begrudged the fact he'd have to leave far too soon for his liking. He grinned when he saw Roy approaching./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We should start playing soon, we'll probably be going for like half an hour, 45 minutes. You good here?" The older boy asked, his brow furrowed and there was genuine concern in his eyes. A lump formed in Jason's throat at the sight of it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You don't have to worry about me, Roy. Just enjoy yourself, okay?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy smiled, wide and happy, a little too happy. But, Jason had seen the boys consume a couple of beers each during their set-up, so it wouldn't surprise him if Roy was already a little buzzed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Always do," Roy quipped before bringing a hand up to squeeze softly at the back of Jason's neck./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Chuck called Roy away in the next second and Jason watched him go. Once Roy had disappeared from sight Jason couldn't help but lift his own hand to where Roy's had been, to feel the lingering warmth from the touch. He was a goner./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy followed Chuck into the apartments small bathroom, he flicked the latch and stood on the toilet to reach and open the small window. From the inside pocket of his jacket, Chuck retrieved a folded square foil, a lighter and a baggie of smack. He motioned Roy closer./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alright, this shit is easier to do with two people. The second the heroin starts smoking, it needs to be inhaled, there's too much risk of wasting this shit if we don't get our timing right. But, this is quicker and safer than injecting and we've got a gig to play." Chuck began, he abruptly turned away from Roy and ripped the toilet paper out of it's holder. He yanked the remaining tissue off of the roll and flung it into the waste basket, he held the cardboard tube up to Roy with a triumphant grin./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What do you need me to do?" Roy asked, eyeing the items that Chuck had assembled./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Simple. Someone smokes while the other does the cooking, so to speak. I'll smoke first to show you how it's done," He began. "Foil heats almost instantly, and cools down pretty quick too. The less time the smack is on the heat, the less smoke, and the less waste. All you gotta do is hold the foil square, and when I give the cue, you light the flame under it. I'll take a drag and when I'm almost done I'll signal again. You remove the flame, and we switch, okay?" Chuck searched Roy's expression for comprehension./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What's the tube for?" Roy asked./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Smoking. See, if you inhale through something too small, the smoke escapes around the sides, if it's too big then you can't inhale comfortably and lose some. If we don't get as much of the smoke as possible we're just losing quality drugs into thin air." Chuck nodded resolutely and handed the foil and lighter to Roy./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy did as instructed and held the foil level as Chuck emptied the baggie onto its surface. He held the tube about an inch above the substance and leaned his face over the tube, his mouth fitting to the cardboard ready to inhale. He threw a thumbs up to Roy and Roy flicked on the lighter. After Chuck had successfully inhaled he made a dismissive move with his hand. Roy removed the flame and Chuck breathed out. They switched places./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It wasn't long before they returned to the lounge, where the band equipment had been set up in the corner, encompassing a significant portion of the floor space. People were starting to gather, the room was seeming smaller by the second with the vast amount of guests that were rapidly pouring in. With just 10 minutes to go before they were set to play, Roy sought out Jason./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He found the boy on the patio, leaning against the railing with a cigarette between his teeth. Roy smiled as he leant beside him and retrieved his own cigarette from his pocket. He leaned across, getting into Jason's face just enough that the end of his unlit cigarette came into contact with the red flare of Jason's. He held there for a second before inhaling, drawing back and dispelling smoke, having successfully lit his cigarette off of the younger boy's./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I have a lighter, you know." Jason said after a flustered moment./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So do I," Roy quipped back with a wink./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason shivered a little in the night time breeze, his tattered t-shirt did very little to shield his body from the cold. Roy shrugged out of his denim bomber jacket, haphazardly adorned with various patches of different band logos. He draped it over Jason's shoulders./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Would it have killed you to wear a jacket?" Roy teased, but there was worry laced in his tone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I thought it would ruin my zombie aesthetic," Jason shrugged as he relished in the warmth of the too-large coat./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled, then let loose a hearty laugh. He reached a hand to the back of Jason's neck again and gave another reassuring squeeze. Jason closed his eyes for a second and felt truly content./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm really glad you could make it," Roy whispered./p 


	19. Chapter 19

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy finished his cigarette quickly, with a soft smile and not another word spoken, he headed inside. Jason tugged the oversized jacket tighter around himself, tried to stop his treacherous little heart from making it into something it wasn't. He returned to the common room that was the makeshift stage and watched Roy twirl his drumsticks./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the band took the stage, Jason once again found himself mesmerized by Roy. The long column of his neck shone in the dim light, sweat-slick with his hair curled at the nape, beer dribbling down the cut of his jaw as he tipped his head back and drained what was left of it. So much had changed since the last time that Jay had seen Great Frog perform. He knew better now why his eyes were drawn to Roy always, it was easier to watch him this way, when he was so immersed in the music that he became one with it, he wouldn't notice Jason's lingering glances as they followed his every move like a soft caress./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Unlike Battle of the Bands, there was no competitive edge here, no case of one-upmanship that had the boys hungry. Great Frog played the way they always should have, lost to the beat and not having anything to prove. The college kids seemed to be enjoying the music, dancing and bobbing their heads and cheering away, perhaps they were too intoxicated to care. Regardless, the party was in swing and the atmosphere was alive, it was a heady feeling. Even though Jason was sober - perhaps the only occupant of the building who was - even he felt swept away a little, lost to the music and the collective feeling of letting loose./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He spied a group of girls huddled together at the opposite side of the stage, being totally unsubtle about their appreciation for the band. Jason knew it shouldn't upset him, he had no claim on Roy, and he was still dealing with the true extent of his feelings himself. He didn't know how to begin to process the fact that his first love was a boy, and he had yet to find a way to tell anyone. He clenched his fingers tightly in the denim of Roy's jacket, burrowed deeper into the warmth of it, couldn't help himself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There were endless reasons why he and Roy would simply never work out, and though it hurt to acknowledge that, Jay knew that it was really in his best interest to accept that as soon as possible. Roy was a little older - and though 2 years really wasn't anything to shout about, Jason's 15 felt impossibly young in the face of Roy's lifestyle and his friends and hobbies. Jason sometimes felt like a child, not to Roy, he knew Roy wouldn't ever think of him that way, but the guys from the band often acted like he was a pestering younger sibling. They had very little in common. Jason knew that he'd barely scratched the surface of the troubles that plagued his friend, but he knew that Roy knew very little about him in comparison. Jason often felt that he was lying, there was just so much that he kept shrouded, a whole other life before this one that Roy wasn't privy to. Roy was confident and self-assured and enjoyed a full, no-strings-attached sex life. Jason had never even been remotely attracted to anyone before Roy and he wasn't sure what that meant, wasn't sure if sex was even something that he wanted. Roy was his best friend and Jason was perhaps a little in love with him and he couldn't bare the thought of being just another drunken fling even though he knew that was what Roy did. Not to mention, Roy liked girls. All in all, Jason was royally screwed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He'd resigned himself to accept it, his affections were not meant to be returned and that was fine. Roy Harper was the best friend he'd ever had, and he was so grateful for that, nothing else really mattered. That didn't mean that the sight of so many older, pretty girls fluttering their eyelashes at Roy didn't hurt, though. The sting of it resonated in his chest and Jason didn't think he could keep watching, he wasn't quite that strong enough./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He made his way to the back patio, the band were finishing up their set and one of the college kids was haphazardly setting up a docking station in the far corner, presumably so he could take charge of the music. Jason slid open the glass door and closed it tightly behind him. He was surprised how much of the noise was contained. The night was calm, the muffled and muted sounds of Great Frogs final song were a background hum, there was a distant sound of traffic and a howling wind, it was dark and tranquil, and just what Jason needed to collect himself. He sparked up a cigarette and inhaled./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He thought back to the way Roy had leaned in close, the ends of their cigarettes touching, the smoke of their breaths mingling in the space between them, he thought about the wide smile Roy had sent him and the wink he'd dropped. Jason shook his head to clear it, it would do him no good to dwell on fantasies, to dissect and analyze and see things that weren't there./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Winter was fast approaching and it was certainly a lot colder than he'd been anticipating. If it hadn't been for Roy's jacket still draped around him, he wouldn't have been able to brave the temperature for much longer. He shivered slightly and flicked the butt of his cigarette over the railing. Absently, he wondered where the guys from the band were, they usually had a smoke after a set. He figured that they were reloading their equipment into the van, and he decided to offer his help. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to fire off a quick text to Alfred, before spotting the time: span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"23:47 /span./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" Fuck /span," He breathed. He was supposed to be meeting Alfred at the campus gates at 10 past, it would take him a 5 minute walk at least./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There were 13 minutes left until Roy's 17th birthday, and the party had barely begun. Jason felt even more like a child when confronted with his impending curfew. He had to find Roy, to spend the remainder of his time at this party glued to the other boy's side, Roy was his best friend and he'd wanted him to be there for him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason suddenly felt selfish, he'd been so consumed with his own hurt and jealousy that he hadn't even watched the band's whole set, he'd turned tail the second he saw those girls making doe eyes at his friend. But, this night wasn't about him, and his stupid feelings that he couldn't turn off no matter how much he wanted to. He'd been a coward and ducked outside and now he didn't even know where Roy was./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With his jaw locked and his eyes flashing in determination, he pushed his way through the swarm of bodies, straight through from one side of the house to the other. He spotted Roy's bandmates just as they were locking the van, but Roy didn't seem to be with them. Jason hurried over regardless, undeterred by whatever they might think of him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey, guys. Where's Roy?" He asked, aiming for nonchalance./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Chuck gazed at him for a prolonged moment, his eyes were glassy and red-rimmed and his hair was a mess. Finally, he snorted and his lips fell into a lopsided grin. Jason couldn't explain the sudden dark feeling of dread that settled deep in his gut. "Lucky fucker gets all the action," He crowed suddenly, far too loud for their current conversation./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Drummers span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"definitely get some /span," Joey giggled at his own joke before he slumped back against the van./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason couldn't breathe, didn't know how to respond in a way that wouldn't make his hurt obvious. He didn't know these guys, didn't particularly like them either. And he was stood in some college car park with them whilst his best friend, the most important person in the world to him, was in the dark with some nameless, faceless girl and Jason span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hated her /span. His throat burned and the backs of his eyes stung and he didn't want to be here./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The weight of Roy's jacket was suddenly too much, he shrugged it off like it was burning and he handed it off to Chuck. "It's Roy's, I gotta go and he-" speaking was like coughing up razors, but Jason didn't even get the chance to suffer through a single sentence./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As if he'd heard Chuck's shouting - and perhaps he had, maybe that had been Chuck's intention all along - Roy stumbled around the side of the building, shit eating grin on his face. He swayed as he moved, his eyes were unfocused and he was dopey happy and so absolutely wasted and a part of Jason wanted to hate him so much. Before Jason could even begin to recover another blow came, a rustle from the corner sounded and a second body fell out, equally dopey-wasted, a second span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"male /spanbody, mussed up hair and strikingly unfamiliar and wiping absently at his mouth. Jason couldn't breathe./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Joey laughed, loud and obnoxious and totally unsurprised. He high-fived Roy like it was nothing, like Jason's whole heart wasn't lying in the gravel between them. Roy's flavour of the night just offered up a smirk and walked away, completely uninterested in their banter./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dude. Birthday blowjob? span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nice! /span" Joey continued, Roy just shoved him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Numbly, Jason drew out his phone:span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" 00:02 /span./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Without a word, Jason was moving, striding towards the gate. He heard someone following him, undoubtedly Roy, but he couldn't do this with him now, too raw, too much. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he whirled. He shoved at Roy, his hurt and his frustration and his anger were simmering under the surface. Roy staggered under the blow, and went down to the ground like a sack of shit, too drunk to even hold himself up under the onslaught. Tears burned at the edges of Jason's eyes and he stubbornly, furiously wiped them away./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy just blinked up at him, confused and uncertain, as if he'd already forgotten how he'd even fallen. Roy let out a little drunken giggle and Jason knew that Roy was oblivious, had never meant to hurt him, was too drunk to think that far. Jason knew logically that his anger was misplaced and unwarranted. Roy had never promised Jason a thing, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"not a goddamn fucking thing /span. This wasn't a betrayal. It just felt like one because Jason was a coward, an insecure, hopeless-in-love, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"coward./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With a wet sniffle, Jason reached out his hand and yanked Roy up. The stared each other in the face for a long moment before Jay's eyes fluttered closed. He didn't know if he could do this. Roy's hand came up to smooth over Jason's hair and the younger boy wanted to push him away, didn't want to become dependant on this comfort when it wasn't in the way that he wanted. It didn't mean the same thing to Roy./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jay…"Roy slurred, his voice was low and a little sad, he sounded close to sleep. "Wha-...Wha's wrong?" He finally breathed, his breath reeked of stale booze and cigarettes, "Di-Did I do somethin'?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason took a deep breath and tried his hardest to restrain himself from blurting out the style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" No. You didn't do anything, not really. Just turns out that you do like guys after all, you just don't like me. And somehow that's worse, but it's not your fault./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He needed to go, Alfred would be waiting. Jason glanced back over Roy's shoulder, the car park was empty, the party back in full swing inside. He sighed softly. He looked up into Roy's face couldn't quite believe how wasted and loopy he seemed to be. He knew without a doubt that Roy would not remember this night, and he had a nagging suspicion that Roy had intended it that way./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason knew it was wrong, knew that he shouldn't let this happen, that it wasn't fair on either of them, but there was an ache in his chest and he just wanted something for himself for a change. Slowly, softly, like a breath, like it didn't even happen but it did, Jason pressed his lips to Roy's. It was a tiny, fraction of a second, barely there before he breathed "Happy Birthday," and stood back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /"Go back inside. They're waiting, birthday boy!" He ordered, tried to sound enthusiastic, tried to sound like he wasn't dying. And Roy gave a nod that was too jerky, and turned and walked away./p 


	20. Chapter 20

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy woke up and instantly wished that he hadn't. He blinked bleary eyes towards the clock, and it flashed 9:06am. Having not arrived home until just past 4 that morning, he was certainly feeling the exhaustion weighing down on him. His head ached and throbbed, his throat was dry and his breath stale./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He made to sit up and the motion rocked his queasy stomach, frantically he kicked away the bed sheets and dashed to the adjoining bathroom. The meager contents of his stomach splattered in the toilet bowl and left him heaving, the stench of it left him retching long after it had finished coming up. He sat back on his haunches and rested the side of his face on the toilet seat, his eyes stared unseeingly ahead of him. He took a haggard breath./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With one last painful cough, he shoved away from the toilet bowl and stood. He scrubbed a hand down his face and pondered his reflection in the mirror. He definitely looked worse for wear. He turned on the water to let it run cold, before splashing it over his face and rubbing along the back of his neck. His hair was greasy, his face pale and eyes weighed down with dark circles. "Happy fucking birthday to me," he sighed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"After a quick shower that left him feeling a little less like death reheated, he stumbled to the kitchen to hunt for food. He craved something fatty and greasy and absolutely atrocious for him. Everyone knew that junk food was the only sure fire way to fend off the worst of a hangover./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"His moves were sluggish, his limbs felt weighed down, but he was long accustomed to the aftermath of a successful night of partying. He didn't remember all of what had happened the prior evening. Some of it came back to him in fits and starts, but he couldn't seem to put them in sequence. He didn't know the correct timeline for the events he could recall, but even so, he knew that there were a lot of things that were lost completely, black spots in his memory never to be recovered. Roy didn't think anything of it. It was par for the course with his weekends these days, and sometimes he was glad that he didn't have to remember, didn't have to dwell too much on his poor choices./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The house was large, empty. It was lonely in the worst kind of way, long corridors and draughty rooms. Roy was there in the middle, alone. For the millionth time Roy missed the sense of community that had been a part of the Tachii'ni tribe, a sense of belonging that he'd always taken for granted when he had it. Maybe it was because it was his birthday, maybe it was brought on by the vulnerable nature of a hangover, but for whatever reason Roy felt a prickling behind his eyes that he hadn't felt in a long time. He huffed an incredulous breath and pushed forward, yanking open the fridge with more force than necessary. The contents was pitiful, very little there to satisfy his suddenly ravenous appetite. He'd have to raid the cupboards and make do./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The brief swell of unwelcome melancholy had left him a little off-kilter. He needed a distraction, a slight stress relief. He needed a smoke. He quickly filled the kettle and set it on its hot plate, he dug a pot noodle out of the cupboard and sat it ready on the counter, before he set out to find his cigarettes whilst he waited for the water to boil. It didn't take him long to locate his jacket, and he tipped out the contents of his pockets. An almost empty pack of smokes, a lighter, a handful of change, his phone and a little plastic baggy stared up at him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He froze for a second. He never brought drugs back to the house. He never kept them on his person. He'd never taken them alone, it was a social thing, a recreational habit. It wasn't a big deal. Even without all his memories from the party, he knew without a second's hesitation that he had not put that in his pocket. It wasn't his. There wasn't much of it left, barely a single fix left in the bag. The white powder seemed so harmless in the daylight, like flour or sugar, so unremarkable in appearance. Despite his late night activities, Roy wasn't an expert on substances, he knew what the guys from the band taught him. He knew enough to not take anything from anyone who wasn't willing to do it themselves. But his bandmates had always taken the first hit before passing it along, and Roy put two and two together to come to the obvious conclusion that they wouldn't give him anything that was overly dangerous. Chuck was meticulous and knowledgeable. He always got his fix as safe as possible. He didn't shop around. He didn't snort through money, there's more germs on a one dollar bill than the average toilet seat. Roy trusted Chuck enough to know that if he was going to be doing this shit anyway, at least it was with someone who knew what they were talking about, someone like Chuck. Squinting at the powder now, Roy concluded that it was heroin. There was a time, not too long ago, that he wouldn't have been able to tell it and cocaine apart. But heroin was finer, and he remembered he and Chuck cramped in that bathroom with the cardboard tube as Chuck lectured about correct heroin use, that was how their night had started. But, that still left him with the question of what he was going to do about it now. He didn't want to keep it here if he could help it, but he didn't want to dispose of it either. With a huff he haphazardly shoved it back in his pocket and grabbed his smokes and his phone before turning his back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He stood outside the back door and sparked up. After he took a long drag of his cigarette, he began to relax. Almost as an afterthought, he checked his phone. He had a text from Chucky, it had been sent at just past 4am, probably shortly after they'd parted ways once the party was over./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong[text: Chuck]:/strong Enjoy the leftovers birthday boy! Dont say i never give you nothing! ;)/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy furrowed his brow, confused for only a second before he recalled the mystery baggie in his pocket. He scoffed. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Figures/span. "Happy fucking birthday to me," he repeated./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"After he'd taken a final drag of his cigarette he took the butt back inside, ran it under the cold tap to put it out and then swilled it down the waste disposal to get rid of it. He wasn't entirely sure what Oliver's stance on cigarettes was, and he wasn't eager to find out. At least in that one sense, it was fortunate that his guardian was never around. Even so, he wasn't eager to leave cigarette ends all over the garden. With a sigh he returned to the kettle and prepared his pot noodle. It was a little early for it, it was still an acceptable breakfast time, but there was little to eat in the house and he was too drained to extend much effort in food preparation./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He glanced around the empty living room as he headed to take a seat. He remembered his birthdays on the reservation, presents ready for him on the rug in the middle of the room. Brave Bow would be so proud, so eager for his little Lost Arrow to enjoy his gifts. But Roy wasn't that same little kid anymore. That boy was gone. He thought back to the boy who'd gotten a skateboard and a tent and a backpack. But, the boy he was now had an empty sitting room and half a baggie of heroin. This was his life. It was heartbreaking. It was pathetic./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Pondering how drastically his life had changed, and how alone it had left him, made that sharp, stinging sensation behind his eyes return. Roy wasn't a crier, rarely shed a tear. He was often someone who channeled his more hard to handle emotions until reckless distractions, which - if he were being honest with himself - was what his whole life had become over the prior months, since he joined the band. He wasn't good at processing, and the added hindrance of being left alone to deal with things only made it harder./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The red light on the answering machine blinked just like always, and with a stuttering breath in he pressed play. There was a brief moment of static, as if someone was moving the phone, before Dinah's voice sounded. "Good morning, birthday boy! I wish I could see you sooner, but I have a breakfast with a business associate." She sounded genuinely remorseful and Roy was so grateful for her. "Don't you worry though! You can't get rid of me that easy! I'll be over this evening to drive you crazy! How about we order pizza? My treat! And because I couldn't stand the thought of you having nothing to open when you woke up, I posted your card first thing as I drove past! I'll bring your present by later! Happy birthday! Have a great day!" Roy felt himself smile despite himself. It was comforting to know that someone cared./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A resounding beep marked the end of the message and the next one started up immediately. This time Oliver's voice came through. "Happy birthday, kiddo!" He cheered, there was a lot of background noise wherever he was. For all Roy knew he was in a totally different time zone. Roy felt guilty for assuming the worst of his guardian, but for a brief moment he was surprised that Oliver had even remembered his birthday. "Sorry I can't spend it with you, but a kid your age probably doesn't want his old man hanging around anyway! I'm sure you'll have a fun time! I'll see ya! Be good!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the message ended Roy sniffed, the tears became harder to keep at bay. Despite everything, he missed Ollie. He felt like a fool, a sniveling child. What kind of 17 year old boy was reduced to tears just because he was home alone? Most teens would think he had it made, would die to be in his situation, this big house all to their self with no supervision. Roy just wanted Oliver to ruffle his hair and give him a hard time for eating a pot noodle for breakfast. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"You ask for nothing, and he gives you less./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Numbly, Roy retrieved the post from the doormat, his name written across a coloured envelope in Dinah's elegant script, the rest just bills and statements in Oliver's name. No card from Oliver, maybe it was still in the post, if he was in another country it would take longer to arrive. But as Roy opened the card from Dinah, and saw it signed 'Love Ollie Dinah x', in Dinah's hand, Roy knew that that was all he'd get. Oliver probably didn't even think about taking the time to sign his name and posting a card of his own to the boy who could be his son if he'd just take the time to be a father. Dinah must have known that too, and taken the time to try and rectify Oliver's mistake, same as always. It wasn't enough./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He put the card face down on the counter, couldn't look at it a moment longer. He just wanted to forget. He just wanted, for even a second, to have some sort of distraction. In his peripheral he saw his jacket slung over the back of the sofa, and without thinking he retrieved the baggie. On auto-pilot he walked into the kitchen, he tipped the powder out onto a sheet of foil, emulating Chuck's actions from the prior evening, and making necessary substitutes to accommodate for the lack of an extra pair of hands, Roy set up his fix. He placed the foil atop a baker's cooling rack, stood it over the gas hob and turned it on low. He took the few remaining sheets off of the kitchen roll, and gathered the powder into a pile small enough to fit the mouth of the cardboard tube around it. He lowered his mouth to the open end of the tube and smoked quickly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If he was in a better frame of mind, Roy might have considered that doing drugs in a non-social setting could be dangerous for him. Substances affect different users differently, everything from mood to diet can alter the outcome. Drugs with the guys from the band was one thing, a party, a celebratory, recreational habit. They fed off of each other's enthusiasm and lessened the comedown with alcohol or weed. It was easier to handle. But getting high alone as a way to ward off his sadness was a whole different kettle of fish. But he wasn't thinking in terms of logic. He was thinking about instant gratification. He was thinking in terms of immediate results. He just didn't want to feel like this right now. He just couldn't dwell on the things in his life that went wrong./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once he was finished he cleaned away all evidence of what he'd done. And within the next 20 minutes he was blissfully ignorant to all the negative feelings that had previously plagued him. He snorted as he spied the card on the counter, "Fuck him," he laughed. Who needed Oliver Queen anyway?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With the knowledge that Dinah would be stopping by that evening, Roy set about getting the house in order. He was boundless in energy and was eager to do something, too restless to do nothing. He put his clothes from the prior night in the washing machine, even his jacket, the residual stench of booze and cigarette smoke would not go unnoticed by Dinah. He turned his playlist up to high volume and got to work. And if he used the hoover to air guitar along to 'span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Renegade/span' by Styx, well, no one was around to call him on it. It was certainly better than weeping over a stupid fucking birthday card./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was an hour or two later, and the last remaining task was the dirty dishes. He always put them off as long as possible, the texture of soggy food always made his skin crawl. It had been building up for a few days now and Roy sighed, he'd just made a larger job for himself. As he methodically washed one item after another, taking the time to dry and put away each before returning to the sink - effectively tackling three jobs at once - his mind wandered. He felt run down and his head ached, he couldn't tell if it was residual from his earlier hangover or a result of the heroin comedown, perhaps a combination of the two./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He thought back over Oliver's message, the card with his name written in Dinah's hand. Roy had managed to successfully avoid his feelings for a couple of blessed hours, but now he had nothing but his thoughts to occupy him, nothing but the painstaking truth that no matter what he did, he wasn't good enough. Maybe he was the problem. Maybe if he wasn't around Oliver would come home. He was keeping Oliver from his own house, keeping him away from Dinah. Oliver had probably felt obligated to take him in, couldn't turn him away. Oliver had done more for him than he'd had to and Roy had just grown to resent him at every turn. What kind of person did that make him? To live in a man's house and be provided for without question, and then curse that same man whenever his back was turned. No wonder Oliver didn't want him. No wonder he'd ended up alone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He felt the sting of tears once again and was so frustrated that he'd seemingly lost his composure so many times in a single day. Maybe things would be better off if he wasn't here, but he had nowhere to go, and wasn't entirely sure that he would feel better anywhere else even if he could leave. He blinked rapidly to dispel the urge to weep, and continued to wash the few remaining dishes. He gripped the handle of a kitchen knife as he redrew it from the water, he wiped away the suds as he cleaned it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So preoccupied was he with his emotional downward spiral, he didn't take enough care in how he handled the blade, and sliced his finger with a sharp and immediate sting. He jumped back, and dropped the knife back into the water. He stared bewildered for a prolonged second at the open wound, a thin line that seemed far too small for the flow of blood it seemed to be letting loose. Without thought he retrieved the knife once more, he stared at the edge that had done the damage, stared at the blood still dripping, running down his palm, over his upturned wrist. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Maybe things would be simpler. Better./span He angled the blade down./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A knock at the door brought him back to himself. He jumped in place, the knife clattered to the draining board with a metallic clang. "Fuck," he hissed. He blinked a few times to clear his head, suddenly overwhelmed by the direction his thoughts had taken, his skin felt too tight and his chest felt like it was burning. The knock resounded again./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He yanked the door open, surprised to find Jason there. "Happy Birthday!" His friend greeted enthusiastically. It took Roy a second to comprehend, before he remembered his plans to spend the afternoon with Jay. The morning had been an emotional rollercoaster, he couldn't be blamed for forgetting. "Roy?" The younger boy spoke up again, his voice laced with concern and his brow furrowed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy shook himself mentally and forced on a smile. "Thanks," he said. He stepped back to welcome Jason inside./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason followed him in and opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped abruptly, his eyes wide and horrified, his mouth still agape. "Roy, holy shit, are you okay?" He stepped closer, lifting Roy's hand with a touch so delicate it was alarming. He cradled Roy's hand gently, turning it up to the light so he could inspect the wound. Roy had to concede that the line of red marring his forearm, running down from his finger, that was slowly drying against his skin, did leave it looking a little nightmarish./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm fine. I just sliced it in the kitchen s'all, looks way worse than it is." He tried to placate./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason ran a thumb along the joint of Roy's wrist and smiled softly up at him. "We should get this cleaned up so you can open your presents. Don't want blood all over 'em."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was tired, aching. His eyes felt heavy and he wanted to sleep. He was fed up of feeling close to tears and he doubted he'd be good company for anyone. But, Jason being so enthusiastic about his birthday, showing up with presents and a smile and showing such care, it made a warmth ignite in Roy's chest. Maybe his birthday could be salvaged yet./p 


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